Secret Key
by gyrlonfilm
Summary: Ginny has reocurring dreams of intruders, intimate rooms, and a strange gold key. The really strange thing is, her dreams contain more than secret keys. A certain silver eyed Slytherin keeps popping up at every turn. Chapter 13 has arrived! Yay!
1. Prologue Sweet Dreams

Authors note: This is my first fan-fic ever. I hope you enjoy it. Please review if you like.

**Secret Key**

**Prologue**

"_Just a bit further," the old woman murmured. She turned to look behind her. All she could hear was the sound of her light slippered footsteps and hard hitting cane as she traveled along the corridor. The smell became mustier as she approached her destination. _

_The old woman touched the wall beside her, wiping her sweaty palms along it._

"_He'll never find me," she thought…… "I'll be safe in here."_

_Suddenly, she felt the dead end. Feeling along the wall, the old woman found what she was looking for. Pressing a small button to the right, a door opened in front of her. _

_The old woman reached into her large handbag that was wrapped around her cane she used to move around. She grasped her small weak hands around a long wand, and she quietly uttered what sounded like a command, "Lumos!"_

_Suddenly a light shone from the end of it. Using the light, the old woman shined it around the small room in front of her; in the corner stood her bookshelf. The old woman turned and pressed a button nearest to her right. The door she had entered closed itself._

"_Now I need to make sure that he will never get in," she whispered. Turning around, she pointed the wand at the door. "Colloportus." An odd squelching noise sounded as the door sealed itself tight. _

_The old woman made her way slowly to the bookshelf. She ran her fingers along one particular shelf and found what she was looking for. Pulling a book out, she laid it on a table. Then the old woman looked back at the vacant space left from the book. A single gold key hung from the wall behind the bookshelf. She took the key and placed the book back into its spot. _

_The old woman took out a gold chain which hung around her neck. She placed the gold key on the chain and replaced the necklace beneath her clothing. She then sat down in a small armchair nearby and sighed with relief._

"_It is safe, he will never find it……"_

_Suddenly a footstep sounded in the hallway. The old woman quickly put the light out at the end of her wand and listened closely. Her breath began to erupt in short pants as the footsteps grew heavier and closer. _

_For a few minutes, the only thing she concentrated on was how long before he would get to her. The footsteps abruptly stopped. The only noise that came was from her breathing. _

"_I dare not move," she thought, "the little lest noise could give me away…."_

_The footsteps resumed and came to a halt in front of the door. The old woman held her breath and closed her eyes tightly. She reached beneath her shirt and grasped her fingers around the key. Meanwhile, the intruder's hands searched for the button that would give him entry. Finally, the intruder found what he was looking for. Pressing the button down, he waited for the door before him to open. Nothing happened. He pressed again and again nothing happened. _

_The old woman listened for the sound she dreaded…..for the door to open. _

_The intruder stayed poised outside the door……He then reached into his back pocket and pulled out a wand, much like the one the old woman used. The intruder pushed the door in slightly, feeling the weight of it. He began to pound on the door, lightly, and then harder and harder._

"_Livy…….I know your there…….I told you that I would find you. But you never did listen to me. Now I am coming for what means most to you in the world," the intruder spoke for the first time. _

_Livy sat very still in the small armchair. She grasped the key even harder and began to concentrate._

'_Where could she go, who would help her?' _

_Suddenly, her eyes took on a blank look and her mind fast forwarded quickly. She saw before her something that would aid her escape. Her mind came back to the present and again she heard the continued pounding on the door. _

_Finally she heard the intruder utter two spells, "Finite Incantatem, Alohomora!" Livy glanced at the door which began to open slowly. She quickly lifted her wand and put a charm on the key. Grasping it tightly in her hand, she began to feel the familiar pull and her body took on a sort of weightlessness. As the intruder entered the room, he quickly lit his wand. In front of him was………_

_Absolutely nothing._

"_Livy, where are you!" He scanned around the room using his wand as the only light source. Seeing that Livy was nowhere to be seen, he wandered to the bookshelf and began pulling books off. The intruder became more frantic as more books left the shelves and cluttered the floor. As he pulled the last book off, his hands wound tightly around it. The intruder glanced at the old empty shelves._

"_She took it," he grunted angrily while still grasping the book. He began ripping pages out of it, littering the floor with paper. _

_The key was gone. _

_"Someday, someday old woman I will find you. And when I do, I will take what you hold dearest to your heart," the intruder spoke. He began to laugh madly, filling the small room and corridor with his echo reverberating off the walls._

**Chapter One- Sweet Dreams**

Ginny woke up suddenly. "Gin, come on, he is about to get to the best part!" Daveigh (pronounced Da-vay) Porter whispered excitedly to her sleepy eyed friend.

Ginny glanced at the front of the classroom. Professor Binns droned on as his clear body moved along the board in front of them. "Come on Dava, just a few more minutes," Ginny whined, "I was having the best dream….." Silvery-blue eyes came quickly to her mind, and soon as the thought occurred it was gone again.

Dava stared at her friend as the look passed over Ginny's face. "Gin how can you sleep at an exciting time like this!" Dava squealed. Next to her a Hufflepuff boy at the next table glanced over at her and then resumed his activity of drawing on his hand. She continued, "Hrmph, at least SOMEONE pays attention in this class!" she exclaimed, "unlike you Gin who spends all her time daydreaming about someone we all--"

Ginny interrupted, "Dava, you're the only person I know who pays attention between us and the Hufflepuff's , I swear your just as bad as Hermione!" Dava glanced at her friend and gave her a dirty look.

"Just because I happen to love history of magic doesn't mean you should ruin my fun!" Dava turned her attention back to the front of the room and resumed her quiet admiration of Professor Binns.

Ginny leaned her head back on the table and slowly closed her eyes. Ginny waited for the dream to begin to take over. Suddenly she was somewhere else; not with the silver eyed dragon who constantly haunted her in the halls and at night, but in a small room. Ginny wandered around the room. She had the distinct feeling she has been there before. Slowly she made her way over to a bookshelf and reached her hand slowly towards it. Her mind began to fill with images of another person, an older one who seemed familiar. Ginny pulled her hand back and stared at the bookshelf.

"Why am I so drawn to it," she thought. Her eyes searched the shelves perusing the volumes, hoping that she would find the one which held the secret. Anticipation and anxiety grew as footsteps quietly sounded somewhere behind her.

"I must hurry," Ginny thought.

Ginny looked quickly behind her as the footsteps grew louder and faster. Ginny reached to pick a book. For some reason, her hand couldn't move any further the closer she got to it. Actually, it seemed suspended in midair.

"I must get it before he does," she screamed out trying to reach with all her might to grab the book that would reveal the thing she wanted most in the world.

Ginny concentrated hard on the book. "Please, please, please," she thought.

Suddenly like magic her hand forcefully moved forward and grabbed the book. She reached for the key just as the door opened. The intruder started to move towards Ginny …….his hands began to feel around the room….

"I know you're here!" he exclaimed, "Livy….I have you now." Ginny stood paralyzed as the hands reached out towards her closer….closer.

"Noooooo!" she screamed as she held on to the key for dear life…….She began to feel the pull, her body floating away from him. The room spun around her and faded away quickly. She was falling through a dark passage, down…..down……

"Ginny, Ginny!" Dava shook her friend.

Ginny woke up for the second time and found herself still in the history of magic classroom. "Come on Ginny, class is over." Dava said impatiently, "I am starving, let's get to the Great Hall and see what's good."

Ginny looked around her. Most of the class had filed out, and the people remaining, including the Hufflepuff boy from earlier turned to look at Ginny strangely.

Dava gave her friend an odd look as she grabbed her books and walked out of the room her long black plait swishing from side to side. Ginny sat at the table and glanced at her hands.

Imprinted in her palm was the shape of a key.

"But…. How?." Ginny thought as she left the classroom, quickly following her friend.

* * *

Draco Malfoy stood posed with his arms crossed outside the Great Hall.

"Pansy better get here soon or I'm going in without her," he thought.

Draco gazed at one hand and began to examine his perfectly shaped nails. Looking up

he continued to watch students filing into the great hall for lunch. He nodded haughtily at a couple of 7th year Slytherin girls who passed by him.

"Hi Draco," cooed one girl. She swayed her hips more seductively as she and her friend giggled and made their way through the door. Draco slicked his hair back and glanced at the sight before him. He was used to the looks he received from most of the female student body at Hogwarts. Actually, he owed his good looks from his parents. Narcissa Malfoy had always been a great beauty. He inherited her porcelain white skin and his platinum hair from both of his parents. Draco gave a thought to his father Lucius quickly. His father was now in Azkaban thanks to Potter and the "dream team."

While in his thoughts, he suddenly spotted red hair coming towards him…… "Ah, this ought to be good," he thought.

"Daveigh Porter, wait for me!" Ginny yelled, trying to catch up to her friend. Daveigh stopped in the middle of the hallway causing a couple of 1st years to stumble into her.

"S-sorry," one said and moved around her.

"Ginny, how nice to finally see your awake and with the rest of us," Daveigh teased, "I mean really Gin, how good could that dream have been?"

"If you only knew," Gin smiled and tugged on her friend's ponytail, "let's go!" The pair walked closer to the great hall. Daveigh began to slow down.

"What's wrong?" Ginny asked, looking at her friend. Her eyes followed where Daveigh's were currently looking. Draco Malfoy stood at the entrance of the hall staring intently at Ginny with an amused expression spread over his handsome face.

"Come on, "Ginny murmured and continued on.

Her heart began to beat faster as she approached the doors, 'Why is he staring at me like that?' she thought.

Draco's eyes became more intense looking the closer she got; their silver-blue depth's becoming deeper and more metallic. She felt a familiar tug and began to drink in his handsome face….

"Hey Ginny," a loud male voice called from somewhere behind them. Ginny snapped out of her reverie and turned around.

"Oi, I'm starved, what's to eat!" Ron Weasley said while patting his stomach. Ginny stood embarrassed while Daveigh looked at her friend with wonderment.

"Gin, are you ok?" Daveigh asked her quietly.

Ron walked up to Ginny and began to pull her into the great hall talking the whole time while Malfoy, who was still conducting a complete examination on Ginny, continued to stare her into oblivion. When Ron didn't get an answer from Daveigh or his sister he followed with his eyes in the general direction of their distraction. 'Malfoy' Ron thought.

"What are you staring at ferret?" Ron threw suddenly at Malfoy.

Malfoy sneered and looked down and then up at Ginny. "Just checking out the latest fashions of the littlest Weasley." Draco took in her second hand robes and smirked. Ginny's face turned beet red as he continued to beguile her.

"Shut up Malfoy." Ron spoke quietly. His hands began to form fists on either side of his body.

"Is that the best you can do Weasley?" Draco commented. He continued to stare at Ginny as if bored and ignored the continued rising anger of Ron.

"One of these days Malfoy….." Ron spoke and began to retrieve his wand.

Ginny stepped in front of Ron. "Come on _Ron_, let's go." She and Daveigh pulled Ron into the great hall. Draco remained in the hallway, his eyes never leaving Ginny's retreating form.

"I just don't know why you two provoke each other," Daveigh commented sitting down at the Gryffindor table.

"Provoke who?" asked Hermione who walked in not long after and sat down next to Ron. Ron's face was still red from the confrontation. As food began to appear on the plates in front of them, his anger began to recede slightly.

"Draco." Ginny answered and began to fill her plate with food. "He made another snide comment about my clothes and as usual Ron wanted to resort to physical violence." At the sound of his name, Hermione dropped her fork. Daveigh looked over at Ginny and gave her a _look_. "I mean, Malfoy…" Ginny covered up, "anyway, where's Harry?" Ginny glanced down the Gryffindor table, "he'd be here by now."

"Oh, he got detention from Snape again," Hermione mentioned, "Goyle slipped wart-cap powder into Harry's potion when he wasn't looking and caused it to bubble over and spit out. Parvati got hit with some of the potion and now she's in the hospital wing. I swear, I've never seen Snape so mad. He gets worse each year. He took 50 points from Gryffindor!"

Ginny reached over to take a sip of her juice as they continued to talk about Snape. She felt like someone was watching her back. She strategically sat with her back towards the Slytherin table in case Malfoy decided to continue his antics of staring at her through lunch. Ginny slowly turned pretending she wanted to look out of the window. Brown eyes met grey ones. Ginny felt herself being drawn in again by the cool depths.

"It's only the second week of classes and I already have two detentions!" Harry complained, sitting down at the table.

Ginny quickly came to her senses and turned back around. Malfoy resumed his typical smirk and brought his attention to Pansy Parkinson, who was avidly having a one-sided conversation with him.

"I thought perhaps with Snape being in the order and all, he'd at least let up a bit," Harry said, his mouth full of pudding. Hermione glared at Harry disgusted at how much food he was stuffing into his mouth.

"The day Snape is nice to you Harry is the day he finally washes his greasy hair, which means… never." Ron said. They all laughed.

Ginny giggled as the familiar feeling resumed…… 'Why is he staring…' she thought and suddenly rose from the table. Everyone stopped talking. Ginny looked over at her friend. "Dava, I left something in the tower, I need to find my charms book. Can you come with me?" She said a quick goodbye to the trio and made her way to the doors of the Great hall with her friend Dava following closely behind.

The whole way there, a pair of silver-grey eyes never left her.


	2. Caught Unaware

Caught Unaware

"He just infuriates me! I mean the only thing he does is make fun of my clothes, or how poor my family is." Ginny continued to search beneath her bed. "I mean what's with the staring; do I have something on my nose?"

Daveigh looked over at her friend. The only blemish on Ginny's skin was a line of freckles which were all over her creamy skin. She shook her head.

"I just can't find that bloody book!" Ginny sighed and sat down on her bed "…why am I so crazy about him?"

"I dunno," Daveigh answered. She took a look at her reflection. "Gin, what would you think if I cut all my hair off."

Ginny came out of her thoughts and stared at her friend. "Are you crazy? Do you know how gorgeous your hair is?"

Ginny was right. Daveigh's hair is of legendary proportions. Her ebony hair hung just past her knees and was always kept in a single braid down her back. Even Parvati Patil was jealous of how guys stare at the ponytail which always swings and hits her bottom seductively when she walks. One time in transfiguration in her 4th year, a boy sitting behind her aimed wrong and transfigured her ponytail into a snake. McGonagall was all frenzy at this and gave the boy detention for a whole month, ("You and Ms. Porter could have been seriously hurt!") Now she sits on her hair to avoid any 'unnecessary accidents.'

"It was just a thought," Daveigh answered after some time, "I mean it just gets boring wearing it the same way each day."

"Well maybe you should wear it loose or something. I bet it would make all the guys keel over."

"Oh well, Gin we better get to class. Hopefully this time you won't fall asleep." Daveigh's piercing violet eyes gleamed with laughter as she gathered her charms materials.

Ginny rolled her eyes, "Whatever. Oh I still haven't found my book. Guess you'll have to share with me!"

"All right, as long as you don't talk about Malfoy again."

Ginny nudged her friend lightly as the pair walked out of the girl's dormitory.

* * *

"What was with the display at lunch?" Geoffrey Lovegood said to Draco. The two were potting water plants side by side in Herbology.

"Talking to Pansy, not that it's any of your business," Draco answered, "Goyle you idiot, you're going to drown that thing if you put it in all that water."

Goyle stopped soaking the water plant, looking confused at Draco, "But I thought a water plant lived in the water."

Draco and Geoff both turned to look at each other.

"Goyle I swear, if you were any slower I'd think you were a snail trying to race itself," Geoff commented, "How you passed your O.W.L.S. for this course is beyond me. Were you listening at all to what Sprout was saying to us?"

Draco rolled his eyes at Geoff. "Enlighten us big head."

Geoff cleared his throat. "Well, like Sprout was saying, water plants are only called such because their leaves are filled with water used only to quench the thirst of someone who is dehydrated. It is found in the rare dry jungles in South America. They don't grow near water."

"Gods, you sound like Granger," Draco commented, "are you sure you shouldn't be in Ravenclaw with your loony cousin?" Crabbe and Goyle chortled with laughter.

"If you compare me to that mudblood again Malfoy, I'll pound your face in and then feed you to one of Hagrid's creatures. And anyway, my 'loony' cousin as you say isn't all that bad. Yes, she may believe in things that don't exist, but she's all----"

"And now, your water plant should be firmly planted in the rich soil. Make sure that the soil is nice and dry, otherwise your plant won't survive," commented Professor Sprout who made her way through the room checking up on her pupils.

When she reached Goyle's area, she gave a loud screech.

"Mr. Goyle, this is the third time you have destroyed my plants since term began! Since taking points or listening doesn't seem to get through your thick skull, I think coming here everyday for a month to help me out in here will perhaps teach you not to destroy others property," Professor Sprout yelled.

The whole class stood still as Goyle held the dead plant in his hand. Malfoy had an amused expression. The Gryffindors in the room had either shocked expressions on their faces like Hermione, or trying to hold in a loud guffaw like Harry and Ron. The other Slytherins looked on with defiant expressions on their faces. Ron looked like Christmas had come early.

Professor Sprout crossed her arms and suddenly said, "Longbottom!"

Neville looked over at her with a shocked expression, "Yyyy-yes professor."

"You will tutor Goyle for one night a week while he completes the terms of his detention. You are a superb student in Herbology, and I think with your guidance, maybe Goyle can make a decent grade in this class and get prepared for his N.E.W.T.S."

Neville looked over at Goyle, whose neck had stretched to thicker proportions after Professor Sprouts' brief attack. Goyle cracked his knuckles, and stared at Neville.

"Class is dismissed. Mr. Goyle, please come and see me."

The class began to file out of the room with students avidly talking about the scene they just witnessed. Geoff stepped over to the sink and washed the dirt and soil off his hands. He looked over at Draco who was still patting the remaining soil for his water plant.

"So Malfoy, back to what I was saying earlier, I saw what you were doing."

Draco looked up with a semi-confused expression, "What?"

"Well, I mean if you would have picked any girl to want to shag, did it have to be Weasley?"

Draco looked over at Geoff and began to laugh. The last time he saw Draco laugh like that was when Hagrid's hippogriff got sentenced to death in their 3rd year.

"Shag little miss 'Princess of Gryffindor?' Nah, I got better things to think about or shag than that muggle-lover." Draco made his way to the sinks to wash his hands.

"What was with the staring then? You couldn't keep your eyes off her all through dinner. Even Pansy looked up from her worshipping to notice."

"Just trying to intimidate her, I got to keep up my reputation," Draco said haughtily as they walked out of the greenhouses and made their way back up to the castle doors.

Geoff followed behind his friend with a look of disbelief, 'There's more to this than he even knows,' Geoff thought, 'And he doesn't know what hit him.'


	3. Uncomfortable Encounters

Chapter 3-Uncomfortable Encounters

Harry sat surrounded by books in the common room. He'd spent most of the evening trying to find information so that he could write his make-up essay for Snape.

"Well Harry, you should be happy that Goyle got his after this afternoon. I mean that was absolutely priceless seeing that look on his permanently confused face," Ron said, looking up from his transfiguration homework.

Hermione stretched and stood up. She'd spent the last hour finishing the final chapter of her Advanced Arithmancy book, "Finished! Now I have time to finish my elf hats." She went to look through her bag and pulled out a ball of yarn and knitting needles.

"What?" said Ron, "Are you still on about freeing house-elves again! I thought you gave up ages ago. Hermione, now that you're done, you can come and help me with transfiguration. I can't find anything on conjuring spells."

"Well Ron, if you didn't spend all your time trying to goad Malfoy, you'd actually learn something." With that, a famous Ron/Hermione argument commenced. Harry shook his head and continued with his research.

Across the room in a corner, Ginny and Daveigh also had books spread out among them. This year, it being their O.W.L.S. year, they struggled to keep up with the amount of work being put upon them. Most of the 5th year Gryffindors had spent the first two weeks of their free time in the library, or in the common room. Ginny yawned and looked over at Daveigh. Her friend's glasses were perched at the end of her nose and her quill was stuck between her teeth. Ginny smiled and resumed her writing. After a few more moments of quiet, Ginny sighed to draw attention from her friend. Daveigh was still engrossed in her book. Ginny finally took a piece of parchment, bawled it up and threw it at her friend. It hit her square in the forehead.

"And that's score one for Weasley" Ginny said. She held her hands in the air. Daveigh looked at her friend with a disgruntled expression.

"Ginny, I'm trying to refresh my memory about the Giant wars."

"Dava, the O.W.L.S. are months away!" Ginny exclaimed, "besides, you know all that's stuff already, you'll probably get an E on all your O.W.L.S. anyway, so what's to worry about?"

"Well……one must always be prepared. Anyway, my eyes are getting a bit tired." Daveigh took off her glasses and began to rub her eyes. Ginny stared at her and began to scrutinize her friend's face.

"You know Dava, I think you should consider what the muggles call contacts. You have such pretty eyes and they're always hidden behind those ugly glasses of yours."

Daveigh stared at Ginny with an amused expression. "And what would you know about contacts?"

"Well, all those summers spent with Hermione, you learn a few things. I mean she had her teeth shrunk instead of continuing on with braces, but there's no wizarding spells I know of that can correct eyesight."

"I'll think about it. Gin, I was wondering about Malfoy…."

At the sound of his name, Ginny's face grew red from the neck up. Daveigh looked curiously at her reaction.

"Ginny, do you fancy Malfoy?"

"Dava, shhh…..Ron could hear you."

"Oh please, have you looked over there lately?"

Ron and Hermione were still arguing. Harry left the room and retreated to the boy's dormitory. Ginny felt like crawling into a deep hole and never coming out.

"You know, I wonder when the two of them will wake up and smell the pumpkin juice. Can't they both see they're made for each other?" Daveigh commented, still staring at the arguing couple.

Hermione finally scuffed at Ron and followed Harry's example by retreating to her dormitory. Ron sat with his head in his hands for a moment and then walked over to Seamus and Dean who were preoccupied by a game of Exploding Snap.

"Well maybe someday Ron or Hermione will do something about it. Or maybe even Harry will say something to Ron," Ginny said.

"Back to what I was saying before, you've never actually said you liked Malfoy. I mean you dream about him all the time, I've even heard you talk in your sleep. 'Oh Draco, please touch me there!'" Dava giggled.

"Dava, how could I like Malfoy with the way he talks about my family all the time? Plus, his father is a deatheater….which means someday he'll become one! I mean yeah he's gorgeous and sexy, and I'd love to meet him in a dark corner and have my way with him, but that doesn't mean I like him." Ginny sighed.

Dava looked at her friend and shook her head, 'Why can't she just admit it to herself,' she thought.

Ginny yawned for a second time. "I am so tired! I think its time for bed." She began to gather her books and parchment. "Are you coming?"

"No, I want to finish reading about the Giant Wars. I'll see you up there later."

And with that, Ginny retreated up to the 5th year girl's dormitory.

A while later, after Daveigh had come up to bed, Ginny laid in bed thinking about what had happened with Malfoy. Earlier during dinner, Draco had commenced staring at Ginny. Ginny dreaded wondering if sometime during the evening, Ron would notice. Yes, she had dreams about Draco, very sexy dreams that she kept to herself. She didn't know she talked in her sleep, and now that Daveigh knew that Ginny was semi-interested in Draco, she wouldn't leave it alone.

'I am not interested,' Ginny thought to herself, 'I'm just a bit curious.' A voice in her head said, 'yeah curious about what's beneath those robes.'

Ginny blushed at the thought of seeing Draco with nothing on underneath. Ginny had dated a couple of boys at Hogwarts, first it was Michael Corner just last year, but that ended in disaster. He ended up with Cho Chang, a 7th year Ravenclaw. At the end of the year, just before summer she started dating Dean Thomas, but that went nowhere. Dean went to America to visit family for the summer and they had lost touch. The first day of term, Dean had come up to Ginny to break it off. It was mutual, and both of them decided to remain good friends.

Ginny thought of the crush she had on Harry for years. It seemed like an eternity since she first spied the black hair, green-eyed boy-who-lived at platform 9 ¾. Now, she laughed inside thinking about how Harry was more like a brother to her. Her crush on him seemed like ages ago. Ginny finally yawned and felt herself falling into peaceful slumber, thinking about silver-grey eyes…….

* * *

Draco walked past the library for the fourth time that evening. Since becoming prefect last year, he had full reign of the castle on certain nights. He needn't worry about Filch and his demon of a cat Mrs. Norris. Instead, he could wander in and out of classrooms, and even snog with Pansy and feel her up a bit on Snape's desk in the potion's room. Tonight was no different. He left Pansy with a dreamy expression on her face not too long ago, and now he was just bored.

There were no signs of students wandering around after hours. Draco looked at a clock over the library door; it was just after 2:00 a.m.

'Just one more hour,' he thought, and then he could snuggle into his nice silky green sheets in his room. A pair of brown eyes entered his thoughts, and he began to think about how nice it would be for the littlest Weasley to share his bed.

"Share my bed?" he questioned out loud.

He shook his head at the thought of a Weasley dirtying up his expensive sheets his mother gave to him just before term began. He shuddered and began his descent down the stairs.

A few floors above him, Ginny was making her way down the stairs, but she wasn't aware of it……_She was again walking down the dark hallway she had gone through earlier._

"_I know I am close," she thought, her bare feet moving quietly down the hallway. Darkness surrounded her as she followed footprints left from her earlier trip._

"_The key is close," she said out loud, "and soon it will be safe from prying hands." For a while, she continued to walk, keeping the sound of her travels to a bare minimum. _

"_I must not let him know I am going to get it."_

_Finally she reached the door. She went to push the button, but suddenly heard noise from inside. Ginny began to panic. 'The key,' she thought, 'he'll find it and take it!' _

_She went for the button to open the door again but nothing happened. Ginny kept pressing the button over and over. Finally, she took out her wand and tried to take the charm off the door. After several tries, the door was still sealed to her. _

_Ginny began to cry, and decided to bang on the door._

"_Please, don't touch it. It's mine! You can't have it…..you don't know what powers it possesses….." _

_The noise from inside stopped and footsteps marched loudly towards the door…….the door opened slowly, and a pair of hands reached out and grabbed Ginny. _

"_Where's the key you stupid old woman, where is it?" a man asked._

_Ginny looked in front of her but couldn't see his face in the dark, all she knew was that she had to get to her bookshelf. She began to struggle against him. The intruder pulled out his wand and uttered a curse. A stream of red light shot out from it, and Ginny screamed and crumpled to the floor._

* * *

Malfoy stopped slowly through his descent. 'What was that,' he thought. He looked up the moving staircases and waited for another sound. He thought he heard someone pounding a door, but it seemed he was hearing things. Shrugging his shoulders, he continued. He was almost off duty, and if something was happening, Filch would be there in one swoop. Suddenly a scream erupted and then echoed down to him.

"Now that definitely wasn't my imagination," Draco said out loud and turned around to find the cause. He took his wand out as he approached the 6th floor. Draco looked around carefully to the right and saw only a dead end.

He wandered over to a picture of a girl on a swing that was sleeping soundly.

"Excuse me," Draco said, "could you tell me if perhaps someone passed this way a while ago."

The girl in the painting awoke with a disgruntled look on her face.

"What do you think I was doing before, picking daisies? You just woke me up so how could I see anyone walking around. Now leave me alone!" And with that, the girl went back to sleep, turning her back on Draco.

Draco leered at the picture and muttered under his breath, "Someone's got her knickers in a bunch."

He continued on towards the left looking cautiously into the windows of some old classrooms. Finally he saw the end of the hallway and began to walk faster. The closer he got, the more he thought it was a waste of time. Then, he saw something which surprised him. A lone girl lay on the floor in front of a door. All he could see was her back. As he got closer, he recognized one thing, deep red hair.

"Weasley?" he said quietly.

Her body stayed still on the floor. Draco moved closer and knelt next to her. Her eyes were closed but her eyelids moved very fast like she was in a deep sleep. Draco sat for a moment just staring at the beautiful girl on the floor. Freckles marked her pale skin, but added character to her normally defiant features. His eyes trailed down to her Weasley nose, a trademark feature, then to her slim but cute red lips. He wanted to kiss them; maybe he should to wake her up.

_Ginny lay on the cold dirt floor and sat up. _

'_How long have I been out,' she thought and tried to get up._

_The door to the small room remained closed and no sound could be heard. Her body felt like a humongous weight and each time to tried to move her legs, they wouldn't. Ginny started to become very afraid. _

"_I've got to get the key back." She began to drag her body down the hallway. _

Draco stepped back suddenly. Ginny moaned and began to move slightly.

"Weasley," he said to her quietly. Ginny, with her eyes closed began to drag her body along the floor.

"What the---" Draco exclaimed out loud as she moved towards him.

Finally he decided to try to awaken her. He picked her up by the waist and heaved her up on her feet. Ginny was still trapped in her deep sleep, her arms flailing along her sides wildly. Her hands found her way to Draco's chest and began to push against him. Her body rubbed against his front as if she were still dragging herself. Draco sucked in his breath at her actions. His body became very warm and aroused. He felt her breasts pressing against him and her hips ground into his. Draco guided Ginny, pinned her against the wall, and stared into her face. It was full of deep concentration. Her teeth were biting her bottom lip. Draco raised his finger and traced the outline of her top lip. Ginny's body suddenly froze at this action, but her eyes remained closed still in a semi-deep sleep. Draco closed his eyes, leaned in and moved his lips towards hers. Without him knowing it, Ginny slowly began to open her eyes, just as Draco's lips touched hers.


	4. Just Can't Get Away

**Chapter Four-Just can't get away**

Ginny quickly pushed Malfoy off of her and wiped her hands over her mouth.

"You idiot, what do you think your doing?" Ginny spat.

"I might ask you the same thing Weasley," Draco answered, "do you know what time it is?"

Ginny suddenly realized where she was. Her eyes drew in Draco standing in front of her, and she looked down at what she was wearing- pink pajamas.

'What? Why am I dressed like this?' she thought shivering slightly. "What time _is_ it then Malfoy?"

"Almost three, though I wonder what your doing out of bed?" Draco lashed back.

He smirked and began to run his eyes over Ginny's form. He could see her navel peeking out from under her shirt. Ginny traced where his eyes led and began to tug it down as far as it would go.

"I-I-I don't know," she stammered, "I was hoping maybe you could tell me."

Draco looked at Ginny with an 'I don't believe it' expression and smirked.

"You mean to tell me that you don't know why you're out of bed? I assume maybe you were trying to meet Potter somewhere for a late night snog, got lost and fell asleep."

Ginny stared at Malfoy with an incredulous expression. "What makes you think……just tell me where I am and I'll be out of your way."

Malfoy gleamed wickedly at her. "What do I get in return?"

Ginny gulped hard and shuffled her feet along the floor. She rubbed her hands together and then asked, "Well what do you want?"

Draco looked like he pondered the thought carefully and then finally said, "A kiss."

Ginny's heart hammered deep in her chest. This was everything she was hoping for, but she didn't know how to even begin. Finally she leaned towards Draco, closed her eyes and laid a chaste kiss on his lips. Draco stared at Ginny's face. She looked everywhere but at him.

"You call that a kiss Weasley? I could kiss my grandmother with your mouth."

And with that, he pulled Ginny tight against him and kissed her. Ginny struggled against Draco but his strong arms held her to him. Ginny felt his soft lips caressing hers and his tongue lightly scraped against her tight mouth, begging for entry.

Ginny had never been kissed this way before. She wondered whether she should stop now and find her way back to Gryffindor tower. But pure lust started to pour through her body just as Draco's hand reached between them and began to massage her breast. Ginny moaned with pleasure and opened her mouth to him. Draco's tongue swooped inside her hot mouth and began to drink her in. Ginny melted further into his arms and let him continue his perusal of her.

Ginny's mind was full of nothing as they stood together at the end of the dark corridor. The only thing in her mind was that Draco shouldn't stop. She began to feel a sense of pleasure between her thighs and moaned even more. Draco's hand drifted beneath her shirt and began massaging her nipples. She could feel his hardness on her thigh and she responded by thrusting her hips forward in an erotic way, causing him to groan. Draco immediately stopped kissing her and stared at Ginny's face. Her eyes were closed, lips red and swollen like she was thoroughly kissed. Her breath came out in short pants and her hands were trapped on either side of her against the wall.

She opened her eyes when she realized he had stopped and looked into his silver eyes.

"Not here….." he murmured under his breath and turned to walk away. Ginny stood poised against the wall and watched him disappear down the hallway and then around to the left.

She pulled her shirt down and then followed in the same direction. She realized she was only one floor below Gryffindor tower and began to laugh.

"One floor," she said aloud to herself and retreated back to the common room.

A feeling tugged at the back of her mind. 'Was I sleepwalking, and why?' she thought as she climbed through the portrait hole and back up to her dorm to sleep.

* * *

"He did what!" Daveigh said to Ginny. They were in potions with the Ravenclaws working on the 'draft of peace'. Ginny told Daveigh what happened to her the night before.

"Yeah he wouldn't tell me where I was so I finally just kissed him. And it became more, shall we say, physical." Ginny blushed and added a bit of hellebore to the potion and stirred it three times clockwise. It turned a deep blue which was as it should be at this point.

Luna Lovegood, who was at the next table, was working with Travis Goodman in Ravenclaw. Their potion had turned black.

"Luna, are you paying attention?" asked Travis.

Luna had a dreamy expression on her face and was staring out the window. Ginny and Daveigh turned to look at their friend and giggled. Travis scowled at the two girls and then looked at the board where the instructions were written. Snape was making his rounds and when he got to Ginny and Daveigh, he glanced into their cauldron. Nodding at them, he traveled on sneaking up on Luna and Travis.

"Ms. Lovegood, would be so kind as to pay attention when your potion is brewing. Let's see what we have today." Snape looked into Travis and Luna's cauldron. His face took on a sneer and with one flash, the potion was gone.

Travis gulped and stared into their empty cauldron.

"I want an essay from the both of you next class on what went wrong. I am also taking ten points from Ravenclaw." With that he walked off. Travis let out the breath he'd been holding the whole time. Luna was still staring out of the window and began to hum under her breath. Travis gave up trying to get her attention and instead turned to his open potions book.

"Luna strikes again," Daveigh said quietly and scooped up a small amount to turn in to Snape, "if it had been us, I bet Snape would have given us both detentions to go along with the essay, not to mention taking away more poins."

Ginny nodded in agreement and began to clean up their area.

Outside of the classroom, Luna walked as if she weren't looking where she was going. Daveigh and Ginny were talking and walked close behind her. Suddenly all three girls ran into each other. Luna dropped her books and looked into a pair of silver eyes.

"Oh, hi Draco, hi Geoff," she said staring at her cousin. Geoff had the same striking blue eyes and pale hair as Luna, but he possessed an air about him which just meant trouble.

"Luna," he answered, "and who do we have behind you." Daveigh and Ginny looked at each other. Ginny had jumped slightly at the sound of Draco's name.

"Oh just a couple of friends, Gryffindors' Ginny Weasley and Daveigh Porter." Luna pointed behind her, "well if you'll excuse me, I must get to the library and research Golden Snidget's. Daddy is letting me write a short biography on them and I must find out where they can be found." And with that Luna traveled on, wand perched on her ear.

"Golden whats-its?" Draco looked at Geoff.

"She's my cousin, what do you expect."

"Well she's a weirdo. Just like you Weasley. Tell your brother I'll take him on anytime, anyplace. He can even bring Potty and the mudblood," Draco spat out and walked away.

Geoff stood there staring at Daveigh who was trying to ignore him. After a minute, he shrugged his shoulders and scampered off.

"After last night, I thought maybe he'd be nicer. But I guess he's just the same spoiled mean imbecile he's always been," Daveigh said to Ginny as they made their way up the stairs leading to the main floor. Ginny kept her expression blank.

"And what was with his friend? I swear he ever looks at me again like Malfoy does with you; I'll have to curse him. I don't care if he is Luna's cousin."

With that Daveigh made her way up the marble staircase.

* * *

Later that night Ginny visited the small room from her dreams again. She still didn't know what it all meant. She was finally able to wake herself up after a while and stared in front of her. Adjusting her sleepy eyes through the darkness, she heard five snores clearly. Ginny had taken to putting gauze around the hand which still contained the imprint of the key. Earlier that evening at dinner, Ron asked her how she hurt herself. Ginny lied and said she got splashed with a potion which created a rash. Daveigh gave her a funny look but didn't corner her until the common room.

flashback

"_Ginny, why did you lie to Ron and tell him you hurt your hand?" Daveigh asked sitting down in an armchair. "You've been acting sort of funny, especially after what happened last night with Malfoy. What are you hiding from me?"_

_Ginny sighed and finally said - "Ok I'll tell you but you have to promise not to say anything to those three." _

_She glanced over-- Hermione as usual was deep into a book, Ron and Harry were playing an intense game of wizard chess. _

"_Remember the other day in history of magic when you woke me up." _

"_Yeah I was so mad that you missed such an important lesson. You know Gin-"_

"_Okay, let's not get on about that. As I was saying, when I fell back asleep, I had a weird dream…."_

_Ginny spent the next few minutes retelling the events of her dream. _

"_-and last night, I think I was having the dream again when Draco found me. I think I was sleep walking Dava. It didn't even feel like I was really in my body, the whole time I felt I was somewhere else."_

_Daveigh sat with a frown on her face. After several moments, Ginny continued on._

"_What gets me is that Draco didn't say a thing about what happened. I mean, didn't he find it odd that I was in front of a door, lying on the ground!" Ginny sighed and continued on, "and there's something else."_

_Ginny began to unwind the gauze she had wrapped around her hand. _

"_Now this is something that is very odd. It appeared after the first time I had the dream, and I tried everything to get it off. But it won't go away. Actually, it looks stronger after what happened last night." _

_She turned her hand over and showed it to Daveigh. Daveigh's serious expression was wiped off her face after looking at Ginny's hand. _

"_That is the oddest thing I've ever seen……..I mean, how?" Daveigh got up and began to pace back and forth. Her brain looked like it was working a thousand miles a minute, but her face still looked surprised. Ginny stared at her friend…..she was at it again. _

"_Daveigh, don't overreact. I mean it doesn't hurt. And could you stop that, you're making me sick with your pacing." _

_Daveigh stopped and looked at Ginny. "Ginny, do you realize what this means?" _

_She sat back down and leaned in towards Ginny._

"_Ginny, I think the old woman in your dream is trying to communicate somehow with you. But what I don't understand is why, if she was able to get the key and escape, why are you suddenly following her footsteps and going back?" _

"_I'm not sure….." _

_Ginny sat in her own little world as Daveigh continued to ponder the situation._

"_We'll worry about it tomorrow Ginny. I bet there's something in the library about communicating with spirits, or something of that sort. I bet its simple and logical."_

_Daveigh gave her friend a wan smile and began pulling out her study materials. Ginny sat still pondering the situation, 'I doubt it,' she thought. Nagging her in the back of her mind was how Draco would perceive the situation._

end flashback

"That's it," Ginny said aloud to herself.

"What's it," Daveigh sleepily murmured in the bed next to Ginny.

"Nothing, go back to sleep," Ginny said.

Daveigh resumed her snoring and turned over on her side.

Ginny remained sitting up in her bed. 'I know what I have to do. I just need to pull Draco aside tomorrow and simply ask him what happened when I was lying on the ground.'

Ginny reassured herself that it was the right thing to do and slowly fell asleep, the whole time her heart beat fast with anticipation.


	5. Behind the stacks

**Chapter Five-Behind the Stacks**

The next day during break Daveigh and Ginny made their way to the library. Ginny's stomach was in knots over the thought of having to speak to Draco one on one. She waited outside of his Advanced Charms class so that she could follow him when he walked out.

Unfortunately the three amigos saw her first when they were leaving the classroom. Ron automatically took her being there as a sign that she wanted to eat lunch with them. Ginny was able to escape halfway to the great hall saying that she remembered that she was supposed to meet Daveigh at the library. Luckily on her way there, Daveigh was actually going to the library….but for a reason.

"Gin, last night I was thinking about that key……I think that maybe the key is some sort of portkey. Maybe that's what the guy in the dream wanted. The old woman could be living in a wizard home for the elderly and she wanted a way out?" Daveigh looked at Ginny in a serious way then began to laugh.

Ginny rolled her eyes and sat down at a table towards the back of the library where they couldn't be heard. A couple of second years were trying to charm the lock on a door to open which led into the restricted section. Madame Pince caught them and shooed them away.

"Anyway, I really think maybe the key is some sort of portkey. But the old woman said that the key was something dearest to her….do you think that the key opens something? Something important, like a closet or a…" Daveigh trailed off thinking.

Ginny sat and pondered what her friend was saying. But what was most on her mind was seeing Draco. She had spent the morning in Herbology thinking about the kiss they shared…..how his lips had traveled over hers. She had never been kissed that way. Yes, she and Michael had shared a few snogging sessions before curfew in an empty classroom but it was nothing like Draco made her feel.

Daveigh finally got up after a few moments to do some research. Ginny took the time to daydream out the window and her thoughts wandered to a certain Slytherin with a snotty disposition…….

* * *

Draco saw Ginny outside of the charms room and he automatically thought about the way she felt in his arms the night before. He was going to follow her after she left Potter and his gang of miscreants but Geoff and Pansy stayed next to him all the way to the Great Hall. Draco sat at the Slytherin table and tried to become engrossed in conversation. But his eyes kept straying over to the Gryffindor table and he looked for a certain red-head. He continued to look, but near the end of lunch she was still missing from the table. He also noticed that her little half-blood friend with the long hair wasn't there either.

On the way out of the great hall he decided to stay close to Potter and overhear his conversation hoping one of them would mention where Ginny was. He was careful not to draw attention not only from them, but also Pansy who had linked arms with him and was admiring the way his hair fell over his eyes. Geoff followed behind closely chuckling at a joke fellow Slytherin Blaise Zabini just told him.

"….Hey, hey Harry," called out Colin Creevy. Harry groaned slightly so that only Hermione and Ron could hear him and turned around.

"Hi Colin, listen I've gotta…" Harry said and motioned towards Ron and Hermione who were waiting.

"Hiya Harry! I was just wondering if you've seen Daveigh. I borrowed her notes from history of magic and she wasn't at lunch today." Colin eagerly looked at Harry.

"Oh, erm, she's at the library with Ginny. Listen Colin- I've really gotta…."

"Oh ok Harry. Hey, let me know when your first quidditch practice takes place. I want to come and take some snapshots of our new Gryffindor captain!"

Draco groaned to himself and then looked at Potter whose face turned a shade of red. He couldn't tell if it was embarrassment…..or possibly anger? Anyway now he knew where he could find Ginny. Wherever Davida….or whatever her name was, Ginny was sure to be nearby.

'All I have to do is figure out a way to ditch these three and I can go find Weasley,' he thought and let Pansy drag him to their common room.

* * *

Ginny watched Daveigh as she brought another volume to the table. Daveigh already searched through countless volumes for dream interpretations, portkeys, or anything having to do with divination. She threw down a copy of 'Unfogging the Future' and sighed.

"Well I always knew that Divination was a load of rubbish, I'm so glad that I didn't take that class. Hermione was so helpful when she helped me choose my classes before third year. Else, I'd be stuck in that class with you and Luna."

Daveigh laughed and picked up another book. "You know Gin, for once I am completely stumped. Perhaps if you could remember anything else in your dream I could try to find a logical explanation for it in one of these books. Maybe there's something in the restricted section!" Daveigh slapped her forehead! "Of course! Why didn't I think of that? I'll ask Madame Pince if I could have a quick peek."

Ginny watched as Dava approached the snippy librarian. She watched as Daveigh clearly pled her case and with no avail marched back to their table two minutes later.

"There is just no getting past that woman! I even complimented her on that hideous cloak she always wears," she complained glaring at Madame Pince. "I thought that maybe one future librarian to another, perhaps she'd let me in. Oh well, I guess I'll have to go hunt down Professor McGonagall and ask her."

"Um….ok then," Ginny said half paying attention to her friend, "whatever you want to do…"

"Great! I'm sure the answer is in there somewhere. Well Gin, I'll see you at dinner!"

Daveigh left the library with an exciting gleam in her eye. Ginny watched her friend walk off, a half-smile playing on her face.

flashback

When Ginny first entered Hogwarts, she had a humongous crush on Harry. That year was very difficult, even Malfoy noticed her enough to tease her. After Harry defeated the basilisk and rescued Ginny, she never felt so alone. Her parents kept her under scrutiny for the whole summer and she watched everyday as Ron and her brothers played quidditch outside. Even when her father won 700 galleons and they all went to Egypt, she did her best to put on a happy face. Yes she had hung out with Colin at school, but even then she couldn't talk to him about her feelings for Harry.

On the first night of Ginny's second year at the feast and sorting ceremony, Daveigh Porter walked into the great hall with the other first year students. She didn't appear scared like the other members of her supposed class but instead had a look of deep concentration as she sat on the stool to be sorted, long ponytail and exotic violet eyes focused ahead of her. The sorting hat sat on her head for a while, and Ginny could hear it pondering whether to put the girl in Ravenclaw or Gryffindor. Finally it chose her for Gryffindor and she happily made her way to the table. Her first conversations later on was with Hermione who was recalling to Daveigh her own sorting just two years before when the hat also considered putting her in Ravenclaw but instead placed her in Gryffindor. Ginny snorted into her food. One Hermione was good enough, but two?

Later that night, Daveigh walked into Ginny's second year dorm. Immediately the other girls along with Ginny tried to direct her to the dorm for the first years, but Daveigh had tested into second year and would be sharing a dorm with them. The other girls in the dorm weren't too friendly with Daveigh, actually they were intimidated by how smart she was and they constantly talked about her behind her back. Ginny didn't join them in their antics; she knew what it felt like to feel like an outsider. Ron did his best to include Ginny to hang out with him, Harry, and Hermione and after a while she didn't understand half of what they were talking about. Most of the time they kicked her out when Harry got that gleam in his eye that something was absolutely important and Ginny wasn't involved.

The next day in Defense Against the Dark Arts, Colin who was Ginny's table partner was absent from class. Ginny sat by herself while other students filed into the room. She heard a soft voice ask her, "Is this seat taken?" Ginny shook her head and Daveigh sat and introduced herself.

As they waited for Professor Lupin, Ginny learned a lot about Daveigh. She had come from a product of a muggle mother, and a father who is a wizard. From an early age she demonstrated magical abilities, and she continued to learn magic out of books and explore spells. When her letter from Hogwarts came, she had several offers from other wizarding schools throughout Europe and even in Asia. The only reason why she chose Hogwarts was because her dad had attended and personally knew Dumbledore.

Daveigh also told Ginny about how her mother used to be a popular singer throughout England but she gave up her career when she became a mother. Daveigh inherited her mother's violet eyes and her father's dark thick hair. From that moment on, Ginny had a new best friend. Ginny couldn't remember her loneliness before Daveigh and was thankful for having such a wonderful friend.

End flashback

Ginny sat at the library table drawing on a piece on parchment while she daydreamed about her Hogwarts years…..A shadow suddenly fell onto the table. Ginny jumped up and turned around……

* * *

Draco managed to make up an excuse and left the Slytherin common room in a hurry. He didn't know how long she would be in the library. As he scurried up the marble steps which led to the first floor he stopped suddenly, causing a second year to run into him.

The second year student glared at Malfoy, until he turned around. The boy took one look at who it was and marched back down the stairs.

'Stupid little……Why am I making such a big deal about seeing her? I mean, she's not even that pretty,' he thought but knew that was a lie.

Most of the boys at Hogwarts watched Ginny Weasley as she paraded into the Great Hall each day, flaming red hair in waves to her shoulders accompanied by her odd friend who for some reason had exotic appeal. Ginny was a superb quidditch player, she helped Gryffindor win the quidditch cup as seeker the year before, and he knew she became a chaser for this year's team.

'She'd probably be good at that,' Draco thought. The image of Ginny straddling a broom entered his mind and he began to think about how good it would feel for Ginny to ride him…….

Draco snapped out of his fantasies. He was still in the middle of the marble staircase for God's sake. Draco cursed himself for his stupidity and made his way to the fourth floor. His mind raced as he thought of ways he could maybe talk to her. Perhaps he would tease her about their encounter a few nights ago. The thought of making her flush red made him form a typical Malfoy smirk on his face.

He made his way into the library. Draco searched through the library as he walked down the aisle ways. Finally he came close to the entrance of the restricted section. She was sitting at a table to the right alone and bent over something. She looked deep in thought. Draco's smirk turned into a leer as he approached the unsuspecting girl……..

* * *

"Malfoy!" Ginny screamed. She immediately winced and hoped that if wishes came true, no one especially Madame Pince wouldn't come over to find out what the noise was about.

"Well…well….well….what do we have here?" Draco looked down at the piece of parchment Ginny had been doodling on for over twenty minutes. Ginny took a quick look……..she had drawn several little hearts with 'D's written inside. Also on the paper she had written 'G and D forever'.

Ginny went to pick up the paper, but to her horror, Draco's quick seeker movements snatched it out from under her nose.

His eyes glanced over the paper. His usual smirk turned into a grin.

"G and D forever? Well Weasley, it seems you have a little crush on someone. Let's see, the G stands for you obviously, but the D……..well after what happened the other night, could it be?"

Draco sat waiting to bait Ginny. Ginny's face turned pink when he mentioned the other night. Finally Ginny said, "Don't flatter yourself Malfoy. The 'D" stands for Dean, Dean Thomas. You know, my boyfriend…." She lied, waiting to see his reaction.

Draco's face altered a little at the word boyfriend, but he kept his usual smirk.

"Ahh, well Ginny, if Thomas is your boyfriend, what were you doing snogging _me_ two nights ago?" Draco sat down next to Ginny and leaned close to her. Ginny kept her face forward, she couldn't look in his eyes. She was afraid what would happen if she did.

"I wasn't snogging you, you started it. Anyway, I wanted to ask you something about that night. It's about my sleepwalking."

Draco looked at Ginny and nodded. She continued on. "Well, did I say or do anything odd?" She looked at Draco. He looked like he just received a very big prize……

Draco turned to Ginny and whispered into her ear. "You didn't say anything little weasel, instead I remember you moaning and crawling on the floor towards me….then I picked you up in my arms……do you remember that?"

Ginny gulped and shook her head. She began to listen to the sound of his voice speaking to her in a very sexy manner as he recalled the night's events.

"And then……your body pushed against mine…..yours hands roamed over my chest……yes little weasel…you couldn't resist me. Even after your little outburst I still got you to moan. You liked when I touched you didn't you? You resisted me, and let me touch you. If had my way, my mouth would have replaced my hand when I touched you underneath your shirt…. You wanted more didn't you…? I bet Thomas doesn't make you feel that way."

Ginny eyes were closed during the erotic account. Her breasts tingled as he described when he had touched them, and the familiar feeling between her legs ached when he said he wanted his mouth to replace his hands……At his last comment her eyes shot open.

"What makes you think you're better than Dean? Well listen here_ ferret_! You could never make me feel the way I do when I'm with him. So just get that idea out of your head. I wouldn't be surprised if I was still asleep when all that happened. You took advantage of the situation. And by the way, you were the one who pulled away."

And with that, Ginny hastily picked up her stuff and ran quickly out of the library.

Draco remained at the table stunned at what just happened. He recalled her last comment……. 'Oh I pulled away eh Weasley? Well this isn't over. Not by a long shot. I don't care if you are with Thomas.'

* * *

Ginny was breathing very hard after sprinting out of the library. Her heart beat with a fast rhythm.

"I cannot believe I told him I was still dating Dean. I just hope he doesn't ask him," she said out loud in between breaths.

Ginny scoffed at her own stupidity. Draco wouldn't willingly go up to a Gryffindor to chat. That would be admitting not only that he liked the Gryffindors willingly, or he was interested in Ginny, and the last thing he would want was for the whole school, especially Ron, to find out. Ginny felt better at that prospect.

"Hey Gin, guess what," Daveigh said a moment later walking up; "McGonagall gave me permission. Let's go see what we can find; I still have ten minutes before Ancient Runes."

Ginny immediately shook her head. She had enough encounters with Malfoy for a while.

"What? What's wrong Gin? Wait….why are you sitting outside here?" Daveigh questioned.

"We…..need……to leave…..NOW!" Ginny gasped and dragged her friend down the hall Daveigh protesting the whole way.


	6. Angry Expressions

**Chapter Six- Angry expressions**

Colin crept slowly towards the trio as they sat in the common room that evening. Harry was telling them about the detention he finished with Snape. "I've scrubbed cauldrons before with magic, this time he made me use my own toothbrush!"

"Err, hi…" Colin said quietly hoping that he wasn't intruding.

"Oh, Colin," Harry said peering over at Ron and Hermione's amused faces, "Quidditch isn't till tomorrow. Can it wait till then?"

"Oh, no Harry, erm….I have to tell Ron something!" Colin exclaimed. He shifted his feet around looking anxious as the three looked on, confused. Ron shrugged his shoulders and went to follow Colin to a corner of the room.

"What is it Colin, I have a lot of homework to do tonight," Ron said anxiously.

"Well…..it's something I saw earlier. It has to do with Ginny."

"What!" Ron yelled. Most of the common room looked up at this and stared. "Oi, get back to work!" With that the common room went back to its usual hustle and bustle of the evening. "Get on with it mate."

"Well, it's just that….I was looking for Daveigh after lunch and Harry told me to check the library. I went in there and I looked all over but didn't see her. Instead, I saw the back of Ginny's head and I figure I'd give the notes I borrowed from Daveigh to her." Colin stopped.

"Ok, so what?"

"Well, she wasn't alone….she was with Malfoy." Colin went on to describe what he had seen. Ron's face which was always red turned several shades darker. He looked like steam was about to burst from his ears.

"He did what!" Ron screamed. The entire common room stopped and turned to the commotion. Colin took a few steps back towards Harry and Hermione.

* * *

Ginny walked towards the common room that evening in a daze. She couldn't believe the nerve of Malfoy! 'What makes him think that I was thinking of him?' Ginny thought to herself as she approached the fat lady's portrait. She told her the password ('Prim Peacocks') and entered the common room. What she saw made her want to turn around and run back out.

"What's going on?" she said walked over to Hermione and Harry, "why does Ron look like he wants to kill Colin?"

"It isn't true Ginny is it?" Hermione whispered quietly drawing Ginny over to the side.

"Is what not true Hermione?"

"About you and Malfoy! Colin told Ron that he saw Malfoy about to kiss you in the library! Are you and Malfoy going out?"

Ginny stopped breathing for a minute. Did Colin really see and hear everything that happened. She began to feel sick. Ron quickly got away from Harry who was trying to calm him down and marched over to Ginny.

"Ok, start talking. Did Malfoy put his hands on you? What were you doing with him alone in the library! I will knock him bloody out before he touches you again!"

Ron squeezed his fists together.

"Ron….calm down. It's not what you think!" she said trying to reason with him. "Before you come to conclusions, erm…." She said thinking quickly… "He was teasing me again about the poor state of my clothing, that's all." She continued.

"And- and he was trying to be quiet so that Madame Pince wouldn't kick him out," she finished taking deep breaths.

Ron looked at Hermione who had a pleading look on her face.

"Are you sure?" he asked, "because if he did hurt you, you'd tell me right?"

Ginny nodded. Ron walked over and gave his baby sister a hug.

"Good. I already want to pound his face in. Just say the word and I'll come running. I'll teach him not to touch my sister or come near you again. " With that he walked over to his books and sat down to resume studying.

Ginny threw an exasperated look at Colin and marched up to her dormitory. Daveigh sat on her bed surrounded by dozens of books. Her other three dorm mates were also sitting on their beds studying. Ginny nodded to the other girls and peered at their lack of answer. Finally she sat down on Daveigh's bed.

"You will not believe what happened?" Ginny whispered to her friend.

Daveigh looked up and took something out of her ears. "What did you say?"

"What are those?" Ginny inquired about the things Daveigh held in her hand.

"Oh! They're ear plugs. Muggles use them to drown out noise. I put them in because I heard your brother yelling in the common room. I also gave some to Ashley, Naomi, and Lucy" She motioned over to the other three who looked like they had no idea what was going on around them.

"Oh Dava, I swear I just want to throttle Colin sometimes! And my brother!"she added.

Dava waited patiently for her friend to continue. She figured it must have to do with Malfoy.

"Colin saw me and Malfoy in the library earlier. And he told Ron what he saw. I mean, I guess he didn't hear anything Malfoy said to me. Because if he had, Ron would still be pissed off and hunting down Malfoy now as we speak."

"Ron has always been a bit of a hot head not to mention his hatred of Malfoy increases with every passing day!" Dava commented. "Don't worry about it; you just have to somehow stay away from Malfoy."

Ginny nodded and began to dress for bed. 'That's easy enough, it's getting him to stay away from me,' she thought and stalked to the bathroom.

* * *

As the months went on, fall settled onto Hogwarts castle. Ginny and Daveigh buried themselves beneath the increased school work they received with every passing day. For Ginny, she relaxed into a comfortable schedule. Three days out of the week she would go to class, and in the evening her workout consisted of Quidditch practice run by Harry who was just as demanding as Angelina Johnson had been on them the previous year.

After practice Ginny would stride into the common room tired and dirty. She knew that Harry missed Quidditch after his life-long ban Umbridge gave him in the previous year. He seemed to be making up for it with long practices and structuring new play strategies then having them run them over and over. What didn't make it easier was that Ron had become a body guard for Ginny. After the fiasco with Colin, Ron made sure Malfoy didn't step within feet of Ginny when he was around. Every where Ginny went, Ron always seemed to be there. Ron would wait for Ginny outside of every class she had. He even risked being late to his advanced potions class one time to make sure she got into Divination 'safely'.

Ginny began to get tired of his constant protection and eventually convinced Hermione to talk to him about it in the common room one evening.

"Please Hermione," Ginny said, "I know you can talk some sense into him. I'm sure Malfoy won't bother me anymore; he lives to make Ron and Harry's lives crazy anyway."

Hermione put down her book and looked at Ginny. "Ok Gin, I'll do what I can. I won't make any promises. I swear he is as stubborn as a ton of bricks!"

"Thanks Hermione. Anyways, he'll listen to you. Perhaps you can convince him to go with you for the first Hogsmeade weekend."

Hermione blushed and walked over to Ron. Ginny watched as Hermione reasoned with Ron. It seemed to work at first then Ron jumped up and shook his head.

"Hermione, it's for her own good! I am the only one she has here. With Fred and George gone, I have to set a good example for her. Plus, Malfoy is pure evil. Who knows why he has targeted her? He probably does it to get back at me and Harry! One of these days Hermione I swear…..it'll be me and him alone in a hallway….and then…."

"Ha! You want to set a good example for her you say! Your brothers left school last year; they didn't even take their N.E.W.T.S. And then what Ronald! What kind of example you'll be setting then for her, you're a prefect and all you want to do is beat Malfoy to a bloody pulp!" Hermione pointed out.

"Bloody hell Hermione, she wouldn't know. It would be just one curse, perhaps one where he could disappear for a while. Or I could stash him in that vanishing cabinet Montague was put in last year. That was bloody brilliant!" Ron reminisced. "He was gone for months!"

Hermione rolled her eyes, "Honestly-!"

She looked over at Ginny with an 'I give up' expression. Ginny sighed and took out her charms homework.

* * *

Ginny wasn't the only one who was busy. Malfoy had prefect duty at least two times a week which usually set him back with homework. He owed Snape an essay on wolfs bane potion that was due a week ago. Having the head of Slytherin house as a professor was a good thing, especially when it came to Potter and his Gryffindor friends. Malfoy gloated each time Potter or Weasely got detention or points taken away from Snape.

'I still don't understand how they both got into advanced potions.' Draco thought one day. 'Dumbledore probably gave them both special recommendations, he couldn't bear for Saint Potter or the blood-traitor Weasel to fail at something. Potter was even taking remedial potions last year.'

He chuckled recalling seeing Potter's face when Malfoy walked in on the tutoring session. His face was priceless. Malfoy couldn't wait to reveal his findings to the rest of Slytherin. His victory didn't hold very long when he found out about his father being put into Azkaban prison by the trio.

'Damn Potter and Weasley and the rest of their little friends anyway,' Malfoy thought. Actually, his father being in jail was a blessing in disguise. It meant that his father wouldn't hassle his son about becoming a deatheater and being inducted into Voldemort's inner circle. Draco thought about his mother alone in Malfoy mansion.

'She probably doesn't miss him either,' he thought.

His parents were married in name only, but in public appeared to be deep in love for the benefit of the wizarding world. Draco always needed to remain the perfect son. His grades were just enough to get him by each year. He also kept the appearance of being the admired and handsome son of one of the richest wizard pure-blood families in England.

Draco thought back to the moment when he was sorted into Slytherin. It was the happiest moment of his life and he gained a true friend in Geoff Lovegood.

His mind shifted over to the only female Weasley at Hogwarts. Draco thought about their last encounter in the library. He was angry at the thought of Dean Thomas dating Ginny. Draco didn't want to think about Ginny in Dean's arms. Instead he thought of her creamy skin he was able to glimpse down her shirt when he had embarrassed her.

"I did walk away," He said out loud remembering what she said before she ran out of the library, "maybe that was a mistake." Draco looked around the Slytherin common room. Pansy was talking with Millicent Bulstrode, deep in conversation.

'Good,' he thought, 'I can actually sit here for a minute without her all over me.'

Geoff bounded into the room. "Prince of Slytherin!" he shouted. He called Draco by the nickname all of the Slytherin's dubbed him. Geoff bounced unto the leather couch next to Draco.

Draco scowled and scooted over to allow Geoff room. "What!"

"Hey, don't yell at me," Geoff said. "I know it's been a while since you've gotten any, but come on, don't blame it on me. You know, that look on your face only enhances your natural beauty." Geoff snickered.

Malfoy took his wand out and pointed it at Geoff's throat. Geoff didn't even flinch; he sat with a bored and amused expression on his face. Malfoy threatened to curse him at least once a day and never acted on his promise.

"Are you upset about the little Weaselette?" Geoff said. Draco put his wand away. His body grew heated at the thought of Ginny Weasley but kept an expressionless look on his face.

"I've been watching you through dinner over the past month. You used to pretend not to look at her, but I know you had a little infatuation. Actually, I am surprised Pansy never stopped through her awe to notice your attention was, otherwise engaged." Geoff pointed out. "What happened, gave up? Did Ginny Weasley not fall to her knees like the others do?"

Draco turned to his friend. "Listen, Lovegood'" he said, "Sometimes it's good to get under Weasley's skin and I did it through his sister. No big deal. Now I'm bored with it and her and that's all."

Geoff looked at Malfoy with a astonishing expression. He decided to press further.

"You don't mind if I go for it," Geoff said looking for a reaction, "I bet I can cool down the fiery little morsel. I think her hair on top isn't the only thing that's red…."

Geoff paused and glanced out of the corner of his eye at Malfoy. Draco sat with an indignant expression. His neck muscles flexed some and he gripped his wand tightly making his knuckles turn white.

"So _Draco_, what do you say? How do I do it? Should I entice her with my charms? Maybe I'll talk to Luna and dig up some dirt on her."

"She's taken," Draco whispered.

"What's that? Speak up…."

"She's dating someone."

Geoff looked surprised. "Who?"

"Dean Thomas." A pained expression washed over his face for a brief second but was gone in a flash.

Geoff pondered for a second. Malfoy didn't let a little thing like a boyfriend stop him when he pursued other girls. This made the pursuit more challenging for him and he thrived in his victory.

'He must really care for her,' Geoff thought. 'I think I'll ask my cousin if Ginny is dating Dean.' "Well, that's all right, I'm not one for ploughing where other's have been before. Actually, I prefer brunettes."

"Huh, what" Draco said deep in thought.

"Brunettes. You know that girl that's always with Weasley."

"Granger?" Malfoy exclaimed, "You must be joking. You think _that_ is attractive. I thought you had better taste, you dated Padma Patil. Now that's one female I wouldn't mind, 'ploughing'," He said using the word Geoff did earlier.

"Good luck with that if you try. She's harder to get into than Dumbledore's office. Anyway Malfoy, I'm not talking about Granger, I'm talking about the petite brunette with the long hair…and those amazing eyes…never saw any like them."

"Oh, her. I think her name is Danielle or something like that," Malfoy smirked, "you like a Gryffindor. I never saw that coming. You dated or shagged almost every girl out of Ravenclaw with the exception of the first years, Patil, and your own cousin."

"She looks like something out of a fairytale," he said recalling a muggle fairytale his cousin Luna told him once.

"Listen, when you've finished with the mush you're spouting out, come and find me."

Malfoy got up and walked over to Crabbe and Goyle who looked to be struggling with a plant. The plant was choking Crabbe and Goyle attempted to cut the vines off of him.

"Still struggling with Herbology, eh Goyle?" Malfoy teased. Goyle had a disgruntled expression on his face. "You're dumber than a bag of rocks; do you even know what this plant is?"

Goyle shook his head and Crabbe attempted to but couldn't with the plant around his throat.

"Devil's snare, that's first year material. For god's sake!" Geoff said walking up and pulled out his wand. A jet of blue flames shot out and the plant loosened its grip and released Crabbe's throat.

"Thanks," Crabbe said rubbing his throat.

"You know Goyle, if you'd actually pick a book up once in a while, you'd know that Devil's snare would have killed Crabbe in another couple of minutes if Geoff hadn't come along and saved the day." Malfoy sneered. 'Why I even waste time with these goons is beyond me,' he thought and escaped to his dormitory.

Geoff shrugged at Crabbe and Goyle. 'Sounds like Malfoy is pissed about the Weaselette having a boyfriend. Looks like I may have to visit my cousin and inquire about the Gryffindor romance,' Geoff thought.

Geoff followed behind Malfoy with an amused expression. Haunted in his mind was a pair of brilliant violet eyes and long black hair.

Please review:)


	7. Rumors

**Chapter Seven-Rumors**

As Halloween drew closer, so did the first Hogsmeade weekend of the school year. The feast on Halloween each year grew more and more extravagant. There was rumor of a ball for Halloween this year instead of the feast. So far, none of the teachers revealed or denied plans for this which drove the girls of Hogwarts crazy.

"What does McGonagall think she's playing at?" Lucy Jones, Ginny's dorm mate said one day after leaving Transfiguration, "if there is a ball for Halloween, they better tell us soon! This weekend is the first Hogsmeade weekend! It'll be the perfect chance to pick up a cute costume. Perhaps then Seamus Finnegan will finally ask me out."

Lucy sighed as she sat down at the Gryffindor table. She looked down at the table towards the Irish hunk but he was busy doing an impression of Professor Snape.

"Lucy, how many times have we all told you that he's dating Lavender Brown!" Ashley Dennon, another one of Ginny's bunk mates spoke.

"Well, a girl can dream can't she," Lucy responded, "anyway, Ginny, _if _there is a ball, which boy would you want to go with? Neville again?" Lucy smirked.

Ginny groaned. The Yule ball she attended in her third year ended in disaster. She couldn't walk properly for a week. Neville's continued clumsiness in dancing resulted with Ginny's feet forming humongous blisters and bruises.

"Ha ha funny Lucy," Ginny said. Her mind turned to think about herself being escorted by a certain blonde silver-eyed dragon.

"Oh I think Ginny would fancy going with Dean Thomas, right Ginny?" Luna Lovegood said walking over to the table.

Ginny had a confused expression on her face. "Why would I 'fancy' going with Dean, Luna?"

"Well you're still dating him right? Anyway, that's what I heard." Luna glanced dreamily over at Ron sitting next to Harry. "Does _he_ have a date?"

Ginny looked away from the astonished faces of her friends and said, "Does who have a date, Dean?"

"No, Ron…"

The girls giggled as Luna continued to pursue looking at Ron.

"Um, Luna, do you think that's a good idea?" Ginny asked.

"Oh yes, I must go with him. I have to see to his freckles. Remember Ginny I told you your brothers freckles could really be a furnunculus curse gone wrong," Luna spoke and glided over to the trio.

"Oh no, what is she going to do," Daveigh said to the girls, joining the table.

"Just watch Dava, this is going to be hilarious," giggled Naomi Ellis, another roommate.

As Luna approached Ron, Seamus stopped his Snape impersonation to watch the impending conversation.

Harry was in the middle of laughing at Seamus when Luna's shadow lurked on the table.

"Hello Ron Weasley," Luna spoke ethereally. Hermione peered over her mountain of books, "Would you like to go to Hogsmeade with me?"

The entire great hall grew quiet. Even Filch who was berating a student for tracking dirt into the Great Hall stopped to listen. Time ticked around Luna who was unaware of the quiet as she waited patiently for a response.

"Well, erm Luna…" Ron started.

"No," Hermione interrupted.

"W-what?" Ron stammered. Hermione continued.

"Luna, he cannot go with you because he is going with me, as my date." Hermione said.

Ginny beamed proudly at Hermione, 'It's about time.' She thought to herself. Around the Great Hall whispers went around the room. This latest development blew through the hall like a strong wind.

Luna shrugged her shoulders and began to hum 'Weasley is our King' under her breath still staring at Ron.

"Luna, I bet Harry would go with you," Hermione suddenly said.

Harrygulped, gave a stern look to Hermione,and then glanced in the general direction of the Ravenclaw table where Cho Chang was sitting. She was deep in conversation with Terry Boot.

Hermione glared at Harry her eyes saying, '_it's the least you can do_.'

Luna's dreamy and silvery depths turned to the-boy-who-lived.

"Um, sure Luna, yeah I will be happy to go to Hogsmeade with you," Harry finally said.

Suddenly Luna did something very much unlike herself; she grinned, leaned over and planted a kiss on Harry's cheek.

Harry's face turned beet red and stared at Luna's back as she walked slowly back to the Ravenclaw table.

Conversation resumed in full swing around the Great Hall.

"That's the first time I've seen anything other than a surprised expression on her face mate. And it looks instead like you have it," Ron suddenly said to Harry. Harry scowled at Ron and looked down at his empty plate.

Ron and Hermione looked everywhere else but at each other. Everyone could see the elation on Hermione's face, and the relief on Ron's.

"Well it looks like a new romance is in bloom," Daveigh spoke after several moments.

"Yeah, all I want to know is how Luna landed one of the most attractive guys in Gryffindor," Naomi said looking jealous.

"Maybe I should take a leaf out of Luna's book and march right up to Seamus and ask him to go with me," Lucy said.

All of the girls turned about to say something but Lucy said, "Yeah I know, I know, he's dating Lavender."

"So what is this about you still dating Dean, Ginny," Ashley said, "I thought you two broke up when term started." Daveigh looked at Ginny with bewilderment and then turned to the doors of the Great Hall.

"Well, erm…" Ginny started but her attention suddenly turned to where Daveigh was looking. The man of the hour walked in….

Draco Malfoy.

* * *

Draco walked into the Great Hall and sauntered over to the Slytherin table. Pansy's face brightened considerably at first glance, but at the look on his face, she backed down and said nothing as he took his usual seat next to Geoff.

"What is this rumor going around about Ginny and Thomas," Draco finally said to Geoff.

Geoff's eyebrows rose at this comment. 'I wonder if I should tell him that I asked Luna,' he thought. After several seconds, he sighed and finally spoke.

"I asked Luna if Ginny was dating Dean Thomas, and she said yes."

Malfoy sat in silence. He was stunned to know that everything he heard was the truth. He thought the little muggle lover was lying. He also didn't believe it because he heard about it from Pansy who was notorious for starting rumors, half of them being untrue.

"Wait…. Where did you hear this from? I asked Luna in confidence, no one else was around," Geoff finally said.

"Pansy……One can never know with her, she's got ears like a bat," Malfoy said glaring at Pansy. Pansy shrunk under Draco's expression and tried to avoid his eyes.

"Great, all of Hogwarts probably knows at this hour," Geoff said. He looked at Malfoy who for some reason began his previous perusal of Ginny Weasley.

* * *

The back of Ginny's neck prickled after Malfoy sat down at the Slytherin table. 'It's been a while since I had this feeling,' she thought, 'should I turn around to see if he's looking?'

Ginny took a chance and turned slightly. Draco was indeed staring at Ginny except this time, he didn't look away. Ginny swiveled back around quickly to catch Daveigh with a mystified expression on her face. Ginny shook her head her eyes saying, 'I have no idea what's going on!' Daveigh nodded her head and then signaled that they should talk later.

Ginny saw Dean Thomas walking towards her. She groaned suddenly and braced herself for the impending earthquake that was about to resume.

Instead, 'Wait, is that a smile,' Ginny thought, 'Oh no, he's smiling! This can't be good.'

"Um, hi Ginny," Dean said nervously. The girls at the table were all smiling at the handsome 6th year Gryffindor boy.

"Hi Dean," Ginny answered.

"I was wondering if we could talk for a moment," Dean said quietly to Ginny leaning in to whisper in her ear.

"Sure, how about after lunch," Ginny said. Dean nodded and then went over to sit between Seamus and Neville.

Ginny gave her friends dirty looks, and then turned to look at the Slytherin table yet again, and Malfoy. She had never seen him look so angry. Malfoy's face was stoic, the look on his face appeared to be chiseled on. He looked angry.

Ginny shivered from under his look and turned around.

Professor Dumbledore filed into the Great Hall with the other professors. The Hogwarts students looked around at each other with confusion. Usually lunch was an informal affair with everyone just being able to walk in, have a quick lunch, then go off to their afternoon classes or out for a bit of fresh air in the courtyard. Today was different. It began with all of the students filing in, waiting to hear if something important happened. Many of the students worried that the wizarding war outside somehow reached Hogwarts grounds, but Hermione assured the Gryffindor's this wasn't the case.

"It would've been reported in the Daily Prophet," she said earlier to someone.

Dumbledore assumed his usual position at the middle of the head table. The whole hall quieted down with excitement as the headmaster spoke.

"Good afternoon and welcome. Many of you must be wondering why we are all here in such a manner," he began.

"Yes we are," Ashley muttered under her breath. Several Gryffindor's shushed her and Dumbledore continued.

"As you know, this season is one of great importance. Every year at Halloween, we have a grand feast which includes the celebration of our mid-way point through the term. This year, some of the teachers here decided that perhaps it is time for something different. With the impending Hogsmeade weekend, third years and up have the chance of shopping and browsing through the village. I would like to announce that for this Hogsmeade weekend only; first and second years will be also permitted to go."

Excitement spread over the Great Hall as first and second year students clapped.

"Yes, I'm sure many of you are happy about this. Please be aware that you must get signed permission from your parent or guardian. You can get the permission slips from the prefects in your house after lunch. Now, this brings me to our exciting news. This year, instead of having only a feast, we are also having an Autumn Ball." Murmurs of excitement went through the Great Hall.

"I knew it," Lucy screamed.

"Yes Ms. Jones, I'm sure you are very relieved to hear this. You exhausted poor Professor McGonagall to death with your continued ministrations. As you realize, this has been kept a secret. But rumors get started somehow…." Dumbledore glanced over his half-moon glasses to the Slytherin table. Pansy shrank even more under his scrutiny and her face turned red. Dumbledore smiled and continued.

"Oh yes, before we break our fast, there are a couple of more announcements. First and second years are invited to the ball; the ball will not only be a costume ball, but a masquerade costume ball. At midnight, everyone will reveal who is behind their masks. And as a special surprise much to my pleasure and yours, the entertainment for the night is our own, Celestina Warbeck." Dumbledore clapped his hands together at the excited rumbling that began. "Ah yes, dig in." Food appeared instantly on the table.

"Celestina Warbeck!" Naomi said excitedly, "I just love her new song, 'Under the Full Moon'." She began to hum the haunting tune as the others around her filled their plates with food.

"I'm so excited; I just don't know how I am going to make it till Halloween!" Lucy squealed.

Ginny sat quietly and ate her corn. She was nervous about talking to Dean, but was upset at the lie she told to Malfoy. 'Perhaps he may have asked me to the dance,' she thought.

"So Gin, what are you going to wear," Ashley said, "I think I want a costume that is flowing, and glittery."

"I bet all the girls' costumes will fit that description Ashley," Naomi said, "my costume is going to be wicked. I have it already."

"You do," Lucy said disappointed, "so you're not going to Hogsmeade this weekend?"

"Well of course I am, I need a mask," Naomi replied, "it's going to be quite a night of surprises. I mean, who knows who is behind the masks. You could be dancing with the perfect man all night, and then when he takes his mask off at midnight, it could be Snape!"

All of the girls including Ginny erupted into laughter. The thought of Snape being someone's idea of a fantasy man was way out of the ordinary. It was Halloween after all.

* * *

Lunch progressed along and the students finally went to their afternoon classes. Ginny had a break and decided to send an owl to her mum and dad to tell them about the Halloween festivities. On her way out of the Great Hall, she told Daveigh they'd talk later and made her way up the marble stairs. Suddenly she felt someone grab her arm.

"Oh Dean, its you," Ginny sighed with relief. For a moment she thought perhaps Malfoy was coming up behind her.

"Its, only me, gee Ginny you sure know how you make a guy feel good," Dean said with a hurt look on his face.

"I'm so sorry Dean--"

"Gin, I'm joking! Where are you headed?" He said as she walked towards the West tower.

"The owlery, I'm going to send a letter to my mum and dad."

"Do you mind if I come along? I wanted to ask you something."

Dread filled Ginny's chest. "Um yeah, sure."

The couple walked quietly up the staircase which led to the owlery. They walked into the sun filled room which smelled of owl dung and hay. Ginny went to find Ron's owl Pigwidgeon and called him down. She took out some parchment she brought with her and wrote a quick letter. Dean walked around the large room looking up at the perches of owls high above their heads.

"I wonder how many owls reside here," Dean thought out loud.

"You should ask Hermione, but of course she'll just tell you it's in Hogwarts, a History," Ginny joked. Both let out awkward laughs. Finally Ginny finished her letter and tied it to Pig's leg. Pig hopped excitedly at the journey and flew on his way. Ginny watched as the owl grew smaller the further he flew away. She turned around and glanced at Dean.

"So what do you have to ask me," she said knowing full well what he was going to ask.

"Gin, I just wanted to know. Well……I've been hearing some things," he began, "and at first, I thought, well everyone here likes to talk, but after a while I just wanted to know myself after several people came up to ask me." Ginny nodded and walked over to a stool and sat upon it.

Dean continued, "Well, I heard from someone that for some reason, without me knowing it, I am dating someone. And that someone happens to be you." Ginny froze and closed her eyes at this.

"Can you tell me how this is possible? Perhaps I am looking at the source this of rumor," he finished. Dean crossed his arms over his chest and waited for a reply. Ginny took a deep breath, opened her eyes and wondered how she could fix this situation she got herself into.

Finally she made a decision. 'I will tell him the truth,' she thought.

"Dean, it's a little complicated. I'm not sure where this originated from, but I may have a suspicion."

"Who then if not you," he asked.

"Malfoy."

Dean's eyebrows rose at this. "Well that certainly wasn't the response I was expecting. Why would Malfoy be interested in your love life Ginny?"

Ginny told Dean about the encounter in the library, but left out some obvious embarrassing facts.

"Well, I've had a crush on him for a while, and I didn't want him to know, especially if something _did_ happen, what would my brother say?" Ginny explained, "So I said the first name that began with a 'D' that popped into my head and you were an obvious choice. I didn't want him knowing the little 'D's on my paper really meant him. I just didn't think it would come to this. I am so sorry Dean, I didn't mean for this to happen."

"Well Gin, this comes at an inopportune time. I kind of like someone."

Ginny's head drew up at this. 'I was worried he still had feelings for me,' she thought and sighed with relief.

"Ok Dean, spill it. Tell me who." Ginny waited for a response.

"I like your friend Naomi, you know with the blond hair. A few weeks ago she helped me out with something, and ever since then I've been thinking about her," he said blushing.

"That's great Dean!" Ginny exclaimed. "But, oh…..you were going to ask her to the dance, weren't you?"

"Yeah, I was," he said disappointed, "But I was worried that you still liked me, that's why I wanted to talk to you."

"Well, you don't have to worry about that anymore. But, how are we going to squelch the gossip?"

"You know Gin, I think I have an idea…."

* * *

Later that evening, Ginny and Daveigh sat in their favorite spots in the common room. They decided to take the evening off from homework since no one could concentrate with talk of the ball and Hogsmeade weekend. Harry had canceled Quidditch practice for the evening since the weather wasn't cooperating; it was raining cats and dogs outside.

"Can you believe that Hermione finally made the first move with Ron," Daveigh marveled, "I thought it was going to be the fifth of never when that romance began."

"Tell me about it," Ginny said.

"So Gin, what is going on? I heard rumors about you and Dean starting up again and I thought you would have told me if you had. But when I saw the look on your face you looked truly surprised. What are you keeping from me? Does this have to do with what happened with Malfoy?"

Ginny grinned at her friend. From across the common room, Dean winked at Ginny and she returned it. Naomi looked up and saw what transpired between the two. She tried to cover the disappointed expression on her face, but it was long enough for Ginny to see.

'It looks like his affections maybe returned,' Ginny thought with glee and turned to her raven haired friend.

"Daveigh, all I can say is that all will reveal itself in due time," Ginny said cryptically. Daveigh looked at her friend with a puzzled look and shrugged.

Yes, the autumn ball was going to be quite the event.


	8. The Jealousy Game

**Chapter Eight-The Jealousy Game**

During the course of the week, Ron finally relented on his promise to guard Ginny, much to his dismay and Ginny's glee. Hermione's influence over him became apparent, and after a couple of days the two were seen walking hand and hand through the halls of Hogwarts.

"So Potter, how does it feel to be a third wheel," Pansy said to Harry in the courtyard after class. Harry walked past the group of Slytherin girls and ignored the comments from them. He saw that Hermione and Ron were sitting together underneath an old oak tree. Harry took one step forward then decided not to go over to his friends. Instead he made his way over to the corner where Daveigh and her friends sat deep in conversation.

"Ok, so this is the plan. First we'll try our luck at Gladrags Wizardwear. If we see nothing there, there's a new store that opened up which sells old muggle clothing. I think it's called a thrift store?" Ashley said to her friends. She had a large piece of parchment out and was making notes on it. Daveigh looked amused at her friends.

"Ashley, I still can't believe you are plotting out our entire day at Hogsmeade!" Daveigh chirped. She giggled at the look of concentration on her friends face.

Dava turned around to look at the other students who were outside in the cool fall day. She saw Harry approaching and stood up to intercept him.

"Hi Harry. You know, you really don't want to come over here. It's all girl talk," she warned.

"Girl talk?" Harry said and cringed, "just what I _don't_ want to hear."

Daveigh looked over at the couple perched underneath the tree, 'Poor Harry,' she thought. "Do you want to take a walk with me?"

Harry nodded and the two made their way towards the lake. They both walked in silence for a while admiring the foliage around them.

"You know, fall is one of my favorite seasons," she said trying to make conversation. Harry kept his face ahead and said nothing.

"Is there anything wrong?" she asked.

Harry turned to look at her then finally said, "Do you know how Luna's mom died? She told me that her mom died in an experiment gone wrong. She was an extraordinary witch and just like that, she died. I don't understand death. Dumbledore said once that death is the next great adventure but I disagree. Nearly Headless Nick drifts by day in and day out but what has he accomplished since his death? He can't join the headless hunt! Why is he still here? Sirius had so much to live for. Just once, I am able to love someone who was like a father to me and just like that he was taken away!"

Daveigh glanced over at Harry's face. His eyes gleamed with tears about to fall.

"Harry," Daveigh said putting one hand on his shoulder, "I may not know how it feels to lose someone close to you, but I can honestly say that he is in a better place."

Harry nodded and looked towards the lake. "Sorry for going on like that. Sometimes I just think about him, it comes out of the blue and I can't stop it."

"I'm sorry. Harry, I sympathize with everything that's happened to you. Death is just another part of life. All of us will have an end and it is pre-determined. We can't be afraid of it, just live day to day without regret. Do you think your godfather regretted his life? I don't think so. It may not have turned out the way he wanted, but when he died, he was free! Not withering away in Azkaban, his sanity fading away, but free. And you should celebrate his memory. It's all right to take time to think about him."

Harry looked with surprise at the petite girl. He had never spoken more than two sentences to her at a time, but to see her speak with vigilance lifted his mood.

"You know, I really needed that," he grinned, "sometimes I need a kick in the ass and this time Hermione or Ron wasn't around to do it. It's weird, them being together you know..."

"Yeah, it was awkward when Ginny dated Michael Corner last year. But you grin and bear it, be happy for them. This was six years in the making. Its too bad Hermione had to take matters into her own hands though. I am still impressed with Luna coming over to Ron and asking him out," Daveigh told him.

"Luna……she's not all that bad. I mean half of the stuff she says makes no sense but she's not bad. Remember when she defended me about Voldemort."

Daveigh shivered at the sound of you-know-who's name and nodded.

"Do you think I should ask her to the masque?" he finally said.

Daveigh looked at Harry with a shocked expression. "Seriously Harry….you know what I think. I think she would love it. It would also totally blow everyone's minds."

Harry kicked at a pebble on the ground. "Ok, then that's settled, I'll ask Luna when we go to Hogsmeade together. I wonder what type of costume she'll wear."

"I hope it's not her Ravenclaw eagle head or the Gryffindor lion one for that matter. I think if McGonagall saw her with that on, she'd have a fit. Harry, can I ask you something?"

"Yeah….."

"When you've had dreams about you-know-who, did it ever feel like he knew you were there?"

Harry looked at the girl with a bewildered look. "What made you ask me that?"

"I mean I just wanted to know…..sorry if I am prying, you're the only person I could think of to ask."

"Are you asking for Ginny?"

Daveigh looked at Harry with surprise. "What makes you say that?" she said nervously.

"Come on Daveigh, I haven't seen Ginny this nervous about something since the time Tom Riddle possessed her. The other night in the common room I tried to get her attention and she didn't answer me right away. Actually, she looked like she was in a sort of trance. And when I did finally get her attention, she winced at the hand she's had bandaged for the past month. If she really hurt her hand in Herbology, it should be healed by now. Madame Pomfrey is known far and wide for her healing remedies. I should know I've been in there far enough times." Harry grinned.

'Should I say something to him about Ginny's dreams?' she thought.

She knew that Ginny's dreams about the key came to her every night now. They even began to invade her conscious thoughts during the day. One day in class, Ginny stopped in the middle of mixing a potion to stare into thin air. It took Daveigh five minutes to bring her out of it before Snape wandered over to their work station to glance at their progress. The key imprint in her palm remained defined as if she held it tight in her hand always. Ginny kept it bandaged and resorted to wearing gloves to hide it, and if anyone asked she told them her hands were cold.

Daveigh sighed and finally turned to Harry. "If I tell you what's going on, will you promise not to tell Ginny I told you, and don't mention this to Ron and Hermione for that matter?"

* * *

Hogsmeade weekend finally approached to the excitement of everyone. The whole week was spent talking about what purchases could be made and who would wear what costume to the ball. Ginny walked quickly to the entrance of Hogwarts castle to meet Dean.

After Ron relented, Ginny shrieked with joy at her new found freedom. Now she could freely walk about the castle and not have to worry about him being overprotective. She wondered at how she and Dean would be able to carry out their plan. Ginny thought back to the day in the Owlery with him.

flashback

"_You know Gin; I think I have an idea…" Dean said. Ginny's eyes grew wide with excitement. "Hmmm...You like Malfoy…I really think we could have a lot of fun with him." _

"_How do you mean?"_

"_I think maybe we should carry on this farce with us being together."_

"_I see what you mean," Ginny finally said the puzzle fitting into place, "make him jealous... But Dean, how far should we take it? Just in Hogsmeade or do you mean at the masque too?" Ginny paced around contemplating the situation. _

"_The way I see it, perhaps we could have a lover's spat at the masque. You know a public one where people will see us break up. Those who won't see it will hear about it within minutes anyway. Then you'll be free to see Malfoy, and I can work my magic with Naomi." _

"_Sounds good to me. I just hope neither of them has a date that night." _

"_I didn't think of that... if all goes well in our corner, we won't have to worry about a thing." _

"_Dean, you know I think Naomi might have a crush on you," Ginny told him seeing the way his eyes lit up when she said her name. _

_Dean cleared his throat after this information. "Well let's just hope your brother doesn't notice you with Malfoy. The last thing we want is for a fight to erupt between the dragon and the lion." Ginny laughed at his analogy. _

"_Dean, Halloween will be a night we'll both never forget." _

End flashback

"All right there Gin," Harry said nodding to the redhead.

"Yeah Harry, just fine," she answered. Over the past few days she noticed that Harry started to pay closer attention to her. He continuously asked after her health and how she'd been sleeping. Ginny shook her head. 'I guess he got hit with too many bludgers during practice,' she thought and chuckled to herself.

"Hey, you ready Gin," Daveigh said walking up. She looked over to Harry and gave him a nod. Harry grinned then turned his attention back to Luna.

"Seems Harry is happier since that day in the Great Hall. I'm happy that he's over Cho," Ginny said.

"You know, I talked to him the other day in the courtyard, and he's gonna ask Luna to the masque," Daveigh shared.

Ginny's jaw dropped and then she began to laugh. "That is so classic! I can't wait to see the look on everyone's face when they walk into the Great Hall together. Who ever imagined Harry and Luna……" she trailed off.

"Well I'm glad to see at any rate that people are happy. Now you Ginny, what is going on with you and Dean really! I am dying to find out! I mean I know you're still infatuated with Malfoy. But now you're dangling Dean with a string. That's kind of wrong….." Daveigh scolded.

"Dava, trust me. You will know everything at the masque, oh hi Dean, there you are!"

Dean waved approaching the two girls. Daveigh groaned and walked over to where Naomi, Lucy, and Ashley congregated.

"What's wrong with her," he said pointing at Daveigh.

"Nothing, I think she feels she could spend her time better studying instead of shopping in Hogsmeade," she lied, "Ready to go?"

"Oh yeah, this is gonna be great." The two linked arms and walked out of Hogwarts gates into the village of Hogmeade following the other students.

* * *

Draco and Geoff walked out of the Three Broomsticks, stomachs full after the amount of food they had eaten.

"Oh that was some good grub," Geoff said patting his stomach, "What do you want to do next? Scare some first years at the shrieking shack?"

Draco glanced around at the couples walking through Hogsmeade. "Is it just me or is every living male and female at this God forsaken school paired off?"

"Ever since Dumbleding announced the masque, all I've heard is one loser after another asking each other out," Geoff said scoffing at the sight of two third years kissing outside of the post office, "pathetic isn't it." He said walking over to the couple.

"Why don't you two get a room?"

The couple looked over with disgust to see who interrupted their interlude. They saw who approached and scrambled together out of the way.

"Stupid idiots, they see a Slytherin and they automatically think that I'm a deatheater." Geoff said, "Hey Malfoy….yoo hoo…" He took his hands and moved them over his eyes, trying to get his attention. He looked in the direction of Malfoy's stare.

Ginny stood outside of Honeyduke's with Dean. The two were sharing what looked like the most enourmous cottony looking blob on the planet. Ginny giggled whenever Dean leaned in closer to say something in her ear, and it carried to Malfoy's ears. Geoff watched Malfoy's fists squeeze together.

Ginny suddenly leaned in to kiss Dean on the lips, and Dean drew her closer against him. Malfoy grew sick of the display and stormed off towards Hogwarts castle. Geoff followed him and grabbed his shoulders.

"Draco, come on. You can have any girl you want! Face it man, she's got someone else although she could have done so much better than that idiot. What you need is a good dose of fire whisky, and maybe a nice warm body to fill your bed. Who'll it be, Pansy…..well I'm sure she'll be happy to oblige you. Or maybe a Ravenclaw; you know I could put in a good word for you…….how about Lisa Turpin…..she's a great lay, that is if you like leftovers…." Geoff chuckled.

"Right now, I just want to be alone." With that Draco continued on his way leaving Geoff to ponder about his friend's well-being.

Geoff turned back around and headed back to the village. He spied several girls giggling over a life-size poster of Oliver Wood which was outside of the entrance to Gladrags Wizardwear. "That hack on a poster," he said to himself, "Puddlemere United is the worst team on the planet."

Geoff made his way over to the poster. The giggling girls saw him coming toward them and whispered together. He gave them a smoldering look which made several of the girls sigh and glanced at the poster.

"_Oliver Wood, keeper for Puddlemere United models the latest fashions for the Quidditch player at heart." _

'Worst idea yet,' he thought. Geoff stood next to the entrance and observed the crowds of students that walked past.

'No sign of Weasley and Thomas,' he thought, 'probably went to find a corner to snog somewhere.' Suddenly his ears and eyes drew him someplace else.

Coming out of Gladrags, the mysterious raven head beauty exited with a few girls he'd seen on occasion at the Gryffindor table. Geoff immediately stopped his perusal of others to stare at her.

"Lucy, you were absolutely right! Gladrags has nothing that even resembles a costume for the masque in there," Daveigh admitted to her friend. The hair on the back of her neck stood up. She turned around and saw the pale hair, blue-eyed Slytherin standing next to the cutout of Oliver Wood.

"Isn't that Luna's cousin?" Ashley asked, "he sure is cute." The other girls giggled and pulled Daveigh with them to find the thrift store that sold muggle clothes.

Daveigh couldn't shake the eerie feeling his eyes had on her. 'Luna and his cousin have that affect on people,' she thought thinking about the way his eyes flashed from blue to silver within minutes. During those couple of minutes, she also took note of the way he leered at her.

'It was as if he were undressing me with his eyes,' she said and shivered. As she walked with her friends, she didn't have to turn around to know that he still watched her.

* * *

"That was interesting," Ginny said pulling away from Dean, "sorry I did that, he was looking straight at me." She took another handful of the confection and stuffed it into her mouth, "what did you call this again?"

"Cotton candy, a great muggle treat," Dean smiled, "I used to love eating this all the time when I went to the amusement park."

"A what?...never mind. You'd think I'd know more about muggle history the way my dad goes on and on about them all the time. I guess you can never know everything," she said.

"Well, he's gone…..you know Ginny, he looked pretty pissed," Dean pointed out, "are you sure about this? We can stop at any time."

"Dean, to tell you the truth I was having second thoughts right after we talked. But now, I think that Malfoy is just getting a taste of his own medicine. He can't always get what he wants. This just proves to him that not every female at Hogwarts he comes near is going to just bow at his feet."

"I agree. We can't do anything more though with him gone? What do you say to a victory drink at the Three Broomsticks, on me? We'll toast to a successful phase one of our plan…"

"Great idea. But will I be able to do some actual shopping," Ginny whined, "my mum was able to send me a couple of galleons to get a costume for the masque. I am itching to spend it."

"Girls! We can never get you to turn away from the glory of spending money," Dean groaned and pulled Ginny to the pub.


	9. Guilty Confessions

**Chapter Nine- Guilty Confessions**

"This masque is going to be the highlight of the year," Lucy predicted walking into the dormitory. She threw a heap of bags on her bed and turned to her roommates.

"I am so tired! Lucy, you dragged us all around the village today. Do you think we could rest just a bit," Naomi feigned and collapsed onto her bed. Daveigh and Ashley both followed dramatically. Lucy laughed at her friends and began to dance around the room, holding up part of her costume to herself and admiring the reflection.

"No seriously you guys, our costumes are going to be the best ones there," Lucy continued, "I mean we didn't even see anyone from Hogwarts in that new shop! Unless they went in before we did. Anyways, I feel good about what I got. I ought to attract some attention." She went to the trunk at the end of her bed and carefully placed the costume inside.

Naomi began to unpack her purchases and put them away. Soon, the others followed suit and with a flash they were all done. Ginny suddenly walked into the room looking very bright eyed at her friends.

"Well look what the cat drug in," Ashley commented, "Someone had a good day I imagine."

"Yeah Gin," Lucy teased, "we didn't see you all day. Did you have that much fun with Dean?"

Ginny blushed and walked over to her bed. She didn't know quite what to say to her friends, but to keep the farce going would include fast thinking and great acting on her part.

"Oh my goodness, I had such a great time," Ginny said energetically, "we went all over Hogsmeade, I even found a great costume. I'd show you but then it would spoil the surprise. So….anything interesting happen to you ladies today?"

"Nothing special, although we did get a glimpse of Luna's cousin today," said Ashley, "you know come to think of it, Daveigh he was looking at you a great deal."

All four girls turned to Daveigh who tried to pretend she was pre-occupied by a book.

"I have no idea what you mean. He is such a jerk. I swear, he's so much like Malfoy, you'd think they were brothers! How _that_ is related to Luna is a mystery to me," she said avoiding the subject of Geoff staring.

"No kidding, he seems so sexy and smooth," Lucy dreamily said, "now I wouldn't mind being stared at with eyes like his. They remind me of cool ice that just melts down your back or something."

"Ooh, now who's making me feel hot," Ginny laughed, "so Naomi, you haven't said much, did you have a good time today?"

Naomi shrugged her shoulders and instead walked out of the room. Ginny turned to her roommates who gave her looks of 'I have no idea what's wrong with her.'

'I hope this doesn't have to do with Dean and me,' Ginny thought to herself.

* * *

At dinner that evening Ginny tried again to engage Naomi who continued to ignore her. Ginny instead thought to leave well enough alone.

'It'll all be worth it once the ball arrives,' Ginny contemplated. She also noticed that Malfoy hadn't looked her way the entire evening. Feeling defeated she trudged up to her dorm and despite Daveigh's insistence that she study for an exam they had in History of Magic that Monday, the best thing for her was to sleep.

Ginny grateful for the quiet put on a pair of her favorite pajamas and curled up into her bed. Pulling the curtain shut that hung around her bed, Ginny finally laid in between her soft covers that smelled like home.

'How did I get myself into this,' Ginny thought, 'I'm afraid this situation will get out of hand and I'll not only lose my friend, but Draco too. I'll just have to tell Dean the deal is off and figure out some other way to get close to Draco.'

Turning over on her side and drawing the covers up over her head she drifted off to sleep.

dream

_She continued down the dark hallway keeping her footsteps light as she guided her way towards the door. Her wand, held tightly in her right hand, was pointed out in front; ready for whatever would block her path. Ginny continued on and listened cautiously for the littlest noise that would hint that she wasn't alone. Finally she reached the door, and breathing a sigh of relief she hit the button that would allow her entrance into the room. _

_She walked in and proceeded to the bookshelf and grabbed the book which kept the key hidden. Taking the key within her palms she glanced at it. _

_Ginny scrutinized the detail of the key; it was a large skeleton key, gold, and contained an interesting swirl design on the handle end. The edge that would usually fit into a keyhole was odder than any key she'd seen before. Instead of the natural jagged pattern, she noticed that it was rounded half-moon shapes, small crescents that were connected together. _

'_This is odd. I can't imagine what this would go to,' she thought. Ginny took the time to explore more of the room. She wandered over to the bookshelf and peered at the books. After searching through most of the books on the shelf, she saw that none had titles on the band, or on the cover. _

"_How would I know what book the key is hidden behind?" she said aloud to herself. Suddenly, the sound she dreaded erupted from behind the door._

"_He's here," she whispered, "I've got to get out!"_

_She decided not to waste time and quickly put a charm on the key. It was one she never used before in her classes or at school for that matter, but for some reason she knew exactly how to perform it. The key in her hand warmed slowly, and she started to feel the familiar pull through her belly button and she closed her eyes tightly. Just as the door to the room slammed open, she disappeared. Ginny opened her eyes and continued tunneling through a portal which suddenly came to an end. Where she ended up was the last place she expected..._

_She was….._

_Right where she started…outside the door to the room she just left. She could hear the intruder inside rummaging through things. Using her instincts, she turned the opposite way and began to run quickly down the hall. She ran for a while, finding her way through the dark musty hallway which seemed to have no end. Suddenly she stumbled upon a staircase._

'_This is where it begins,' she thought, 'if I can find where I started, perhaps I'll know where I am.' Ginny slowly climbed the staircase, feeling the wall around her. She noticed this wall was made of smooth bricks which felt wet to the touch. The staircase continued to spiral around her and after a while, she started getting tired. _

"_I have to keep going before he gives up and comes up after me," she thought and tried not to panic. Her insistence at escaping kept her going until she finally reached the top. A great door stood between her and her freedom. Ginny tried the door in front of her and found it locked. _

"_Ok, let's try 'Alohomora," she said. That didn't work either. Instead she began to panic and pulled on the door knob. "Please please open, I need to get out..." she whined willing the door to open. _

"_Wait!" she exclaimed, "I wonder…." She decided to try the mysterious key that she still didn't know the function of. Taking it out she looked at it and then compared it to the keyhole of the door. _

_They were incredibly different. The keyhole was small, but the key in her hand was so much bigger._

'_Can this get any worse,' Ginny thought. For some reason though, she felt this wasn't the end and decided to try her luck. She took the key and started to insert it in the hole. The key began to glow and grow warm in her hand. It became unbearably hot but still she didn't let go. Suddenly, the key began to take the shape of the keyhole and slid miraculously into it. Ginny leapt with joy and turned the key. The door sprung open and she quickly took the key out of the lock and went into the room, shutting the door and locking it behind her. All of a sudden the key became cold and resumed its old shape. _

_Ginny looked bemused at where she was. "I can't believe it," she said out loud. _

* * *

_She continued to feel warmth all over her body as he leaned over her. _

"_Are you sure about this," he said peering deep into her brown eyes. _

_She nodded, "yes Draco…..please make love to me…"_

_Draco leaned in and began to kiss her. Her heart beat uncontrollably as his tongue drifted over her lips, trying to pry them open. Ginny kept them tightly shut. He laughed within the kiss and continued to explore her mouth with his experienced lips, pressing his body into hers. Ginny felt the heat of his body pressing against her and was afraid of the way he felt but was eager and curious to move on. _

_Draco turned over to the side bringing them parallel to each other, keeping the kissing intact. Ginny felt herself slipping into oblivion unaware of what happened; she just concentrated on the feel of his glorious mouth on hers but continued to keep her mouth closed shut. _

_She began to feel him reaching under her blouse, and he snuck his hand beneath her cotton bra. He began to caress her breasts…at this action Ginny gasped which forced her mouth open. He took this opportunity to slip his tongue into her mouth, drinking in the soft warm taste within. Ginny tried to pull away at his intrusion but began to slip back under his spell. With the assault he performed on her breasts and her mouth, all she could think of was the wonderful feeling that overtook her. She began to moan deeply which made Draco continue the ministrations upon her body. _

_Each time he did this, Ginny sucked her breath in and let out one moan. Draco stopped kissing Ginny and paid close attention to the action he performed. They lay side by side, pulled close to each other, her shirt hung off her shoulders, buttons undone and both breasts stuck out pressed close to him. _

'_When did he do that,' Ginny brought her thoughts to her undone buttons. All reason aside, she continued to allow him access to her breasts. _

_Draco stared into Ginny's pale and beautiful face. He stopped abruptly and turned Ginny onto her back and got on top of her. He looked into her eyes which pleaded for him to continue._

"_You saucy little minx," he teased, "Tell me what you want me to do." He kept his hands on either side of her, using his muscles to hold himself over her quivering body. Ginny's breath came out in short pants, lips bruised from kissing. _

_There were so many things she wanted him to do, she couldn't think of what next. All she knew was that he stopped and she wanted more...more of his hands on her body. _

"_Don't stop…," she suddenly said with surprise._

_Draco smirked at the surprise on her face. _

_He stopped and drew his hand beneath her short pleated skirt. Instead of pulling it up, he slipped his hands underneath it. She blushed at the thought of Draco touching her. _

_Ginny slipped deep into ecstasy, and she began to shake uncontrollably, toes burying themselves deep into the bed. Draco's forehead perspired; he was whispering things Ginny never dreamed she would hear anyone say... _

_Suddenly she felt the earth move beneath her, her mind drifted into oblivion like she's never known before; all she knew was that the man she loved was making her feel unbelievable. Ginny called out Draco's name, shouted it louder than she ever did, letting the world know he made his mark on her._

Ginny sat up in bed. She looked around her, trying to adjust her eyes to the environment around her. She sat in a cold sweat; hand over her mouth at what just happened.

'He….he was right here, I swear it,' Ginny thought. Seeing that no one lay with her, she pulled back the curtain on her bed. Sunlight streamed into her eyes, and Ginny squinted at it. She took at the other four beds in her dorm, all were empty. She sighed with relief.

"What if I called out his name," she said out loud and slid out of bed.

"Oh!" Ginny blushed and found a pair of knickers on the floor next to her bed.

"I hope Daveigh didn't see these," Ginny snatched them up and left the room quickly to prepare for breakfast.

* * *

"You say you saw the key this time," Daveigh questioned and pulled out a small notebook. The two girls sat in their favorite corner in the common room that evening.

"What's that for," Ginny said pointing to the notebook.

"Oh, well…I know you will probably find this silly, but I have been writing down every detail you've told me about your dreams," Daveigh said, "This is the first time you described what the key looks like. And I find it fascinating that it assumed the shape of the lock that it needed to fit in." She began to write this explanation quickly in her notebook, glasses falling down her nose.

"Dava, this is ridiculous," Ginny responded, "I mean I still have no idea what this dream has to do with. All I know is that this stupid imprint is still in my hand, and I have to wear gloves! I mean do you know how it feels having to come up with an excuse to tell my brother why I wear them everyday. This is so frustrating. And these dreams….they become more and more mysterious! First, I see an old woman getting the key and then disappearing. Then I am the old woman and I get the key and disappear. Next I am outside the door, and I get cursed by the nameless and faceless man in my dreams and find myself with Malfoy in the sixth floor corridor sleepwalking. I have nightmares about the stupid dream not only at night, but during the day which causes me to drop everything I am doing. And then last night the puzzle continues, nothing new happens but me escaping out from where I came from and I see the key and use it to unlock a door which leads to god knows where. Dava, I don't know what to do. I mean I can't go to Professor McGonagall with this. You're the only one who knows about this, and Draco probably thinks I'm odd after he found me sleepwalking."

Ginny rested her hands over her eyes. Daveigh walked over to her friend and gave her a hug.

"You're really having a tough time with this. I'm so sorry Gin; I am doing the best I can. The one time I get into the restricted section, I don't find anything that can help. So now we're back to square one." She went back to her notebook and began to read the details of Ginny's past dreams.

"Wait! Ginny…..there is one connection we haven't considered through all of your dreams," Daveigh said excitedly, "but it's not what I think you want to hear right now. Not with you and Dean dating….." She looked over at the 6th year boy deep in conversation with Neville and Harry near the fireplace.

"Ginny…I think you need to talk to Malfoy again. For some reason, I feel like it begins and ends with him." Ginny looked madly at her friends observation but let her continue.

"I mean, the first time you have this dream, you thought about Malfoy before hand. All the other times, was he on your mind?" Ginny nodded.

"Now, last night, did you think or dream about him again?" Daveigh asked on the edge of her seat.

"Yes," Ginny said but this time blushed when she recalled the events in her dream last night.

Daveigh said nothing at her friends red face and wrote this in her journal.

"There's one more thing you should know Gin," Daveigh said bracing herself for the explosion she was about to expect, "I…I kind of mentioned things to Harry." Daveigh closed her eyes and cringed at the expected eruption. When nothing happened, she opened one eye. Instead she saw Ginny's mouth wide open in an "oh" shape.

"Now Gin, I know what you must be thinking, but he would understand these dreams you've been having. I mean, he's dreamt about you-know-who, and then traveling through the department of mysteries last year, and the thing with your dad almost dying, I thought he'd be the perfect person to consult."

"So that's why he's been asking me those weird questions," Ginny said, "I thought the whole time he was being knocked in the head too much by bludgers. I was going to suggest a visit to Madame Pomfrey but….I think I'm the one who needs it."

"Come on Ginny, its not as bad as you think. I made him promise not to tell Ron or Hermione. And as you know, he's kept that promise else your brother would be reacting irrationally if he did know. But right now, and Harry agrees, you need to talk to Dumbledore."

Ginny scoffed at this. "Dava, I am not going to Dumbledore. He has too much on his plate to worry about something silly like this."

Daveigh looked worriedly at her friend. "Gin, you should think about this. Harry agrees what didn't work with him last year; perhaps you-know-who is trying to work through you. Maybe that key is to a weapon of some sort; Harry said it could be something worse than death itself. Remember Tom Riddle and the diary."

"How could I forget that," Ginny murmured to herself and tried not to drudge up the old memories from her first year.

"Anyway, just think about it. It could be important…….On a lighter note, are you finally going to tell me about you and Dean?"

Ginny looked over at her friend. She couldn't believe how fast she could change subjects.

"Not again! Daveigh, I promise after the ball you will know everything." Ginny then thought to herself, 'I guess the plan is back on.' After the dream she had about Malfoy the night before, she wanted to see if perhaps he was as skilled with his hands and mouth in real life. 'Wait I already know…' she reflected.

"Gin, do you know anything about Luna's cousin," Daveigh asked.

Ginny looked at her friend with surprise.

"Well…..from what Luna told me, he is the only person in her family ever sorted into Slytherin," Ginny mentioned, "and he is a troublemaker. I heard that he slept this way through most of the Ravenclaw girls, except for Cho and Luna of course. He dated Padma Patil last year…..but I guess he didn't get far with her."

Daveigh looked shocked at the details Ginny shared with her. Ginny suddenly said to Daveigh, "But….I mean some are rumors of course, I mean the Slytherin thing is true, and he did date Padma, but the other thing, I have no idea."

"Well….I was just curious, it's no big deal. Not that I'm interested in him or anything," Daveigh said nonchalantly. She brought her attention to the History of Magic textbook. "Now what do you say to some studying now Gin!"

Ginny groaned, "Come on Dava!" Ginny protested but finally gave in to her friend.

'A little bit of studying never hurt anything,' Ginny thought, trying to concentrate on reading, her mind full of visions of Draco's form towering over her……

I will find you.


	10. First Impressions

Chapter Ten- First Impressions

A few days passed and suddenly it was two days before the masque. Excitement continued to spread through Hogwarts. Even the Hogwarts teachers, well some, got caught up in the spirit of Halloween. Peeves who loved to wander the halls and harass students began to sing a song about Snape-

"Snape becomes purple like a grape,

When he looks at Potter,

'Potter you have dentention,' he says

Potter says 'Snape's an old rotter…."

Peeves took to the halls in between classes singing it down the hallways, doing loopty- loops the whole way, and by the end of the day, Snape looked murderous and took to agonizing Harry more in potions than he already did, and he forbade all the students he came into contact with that if he heard anyone singing the song, they would have detention with him for a month, and 100 points would be taken from the house they were in.

Soon the amusement faded with this, and things got back to normal. The bloody-baron heard of the defilement of the Head of Slytherin house, and for the thousandth time he threatened Peeves.

Malfoy spent each day trying not to think of Ginny. It was hard not to peer at the Gryffindor table during meals, seeing Thomas with his arm around Ginny and her laughing at every little thing he says. The only thing amusing about it was the deadly look that was on the elder Weasley's face each time he saw Dean and his sister together.

'Looks like I'm not the only one who wants to murder Thomas,' Malfoy thought.

He brought his attention to Geoff who was entertaining a slew of Slytherin first year girls with a bit of muggle magic tricks. After the brief demonstration, he turned to Malfoy who had a look of humor but disgust at the same time.

"Doing that rubbish again?" Malfoy commented.

"For some reason, its seems to get me lots of attention, not that I need it," Geoff bragged, "Even though you can't stand the muggles, I find a bit of their mumbo jumbo quite exhilarating. Taking Muggle Studies has done wonders in the female department."

Malfoy rolled his eyes. "Well this looks interesting," he said bringing his attention suddenly to Longbottom who approached the Slytherin table with caution. Neville's face had the look of fright but he tried to cover it by looking down at the floor. He slowly approached Goyle who was currently having an arm wrestling contest with Crabbe.

"Lost your way Longbottom," Malfoy called out.

Crabbe and Goyle immediately ceased all activity and looked over at the approaching Gryffindor. Neville stood wavering in front of the Slytherin's resolved to get the task at hand over with.

"Er…Goyle, um remember we have our session tonight at 6:30. Don't forget this time, or I'll be… (Neville swallowed at this) _forced _to tell Professor Sprout." He sighed and began to retreat back to the Gryffindor table.

"Longbottom," Goyle said quickly, "if I find you over here again or you say something like that to me again, I'll….I'll…" he stopped suddenly. Neville had drawn his wand out at the threat and pointed it at Goyle's throat.

"Y- You'll do what," Neville said, "I'm not afraid to use this. I maybe a bit absent minded at times, but I know a lot of curses. Just be there at 6:30." He looked with alarm at Geoff and Malfoy who had both stood up and drawn their wands out at Neville. Half of the Great Hall stared at the trio. Harry and the rest of the members of the former D.A. had their wands pulled out and on the table, ready to assume battle.

Suddenly Professor McGonagall walked over to the table.

"What is this, idle threats being made to each other! A disgrace to both houses! Longbottom, you should know better, although your grandmother would disagree. Tsk-tsk two wands pointed at you…..well let's see here. You, and you." She said pointing at Geoff, and Malfoy, "you will have detention with me tomorrow. Meet me at 7:00, my office. Longbottom, I dare say you will be in detention already having to tutor him." She gave Goyle a look and then marched away leading Neville over to the Gryffindor's.

The Great Hall resumed speaking, those whose attention was occupied by the display before and resumed talking about the impending masquerade ball.

Neville sat down at the table and looked at his friends with relief.

"Neville, what were you thinking trying to corner Goyle like that," Hermione immediately said.

"Lay off him Hermione, he's the hero of the hour. Imagine, being able to get away without a detention. I guess tutoring Goyle is a detention in itself," Ron said patting Neville on the back.

"Thanks guys," Neville said, and helped himself to food.

Down the table a ways, Ginny was deep in conversation with her friends and Dean.

"So Naomi, I've been hearing this costume of your is sure to be….hot?" Dean flirted with her. Naomi grinned and looked over at Ginny with raised eyebrows.

"You can look all you want, but make sure your attention is on your woman come Saturday night," Naomi teased.

"Oh, I've already seen Ginny's costume," Dean said matter of factly, "but I hear your costume is very wicked."

Ginny watched the exchange of dialogue. There were so many underlying implications; she knew she had to stop Dean from ruining their sham of a relationship. She lightly pinched Dean on his thigh under the table.

"Ow….what was that for pumpkin," Dean said lying through his teeth.

"Just wanted to make sure you were aware that you are still with me," she whispered, "I could cut the sexual tension between you and Naomi with a knife. Remember the plan."

Dean's features softened. "I'm sorry Gin, its just hard sometimes having to pretend with you but feeling something for someone else," he admitted throwing a grin to Naomi.

Ginny looked over at Malfoy, 'If you only knew Dean, if you only knew….' She thought to herself.

"Just think Dean, two days and we'll hopefully be with the people of our dreams," Ginny said back to him. She gave him a reassuring smile and went back to the conversation about guessing people's costumes.

* * *

It was the day before the masque and Malfoy was stuck in detention. McGonagall sat in her office grading papers while he and Geoff swept the floor, washed the windows, dusted, and took inventory of all the supplies used for transfiguration class.

"This is so below me," Malfoy said quietly, counting buttons in a box.

Geoff was underneath a cabinet trying to draw out a mouse which escaped below. He finally gave up and brushed off dust.

"I hope McGonagall doesn't go through this place using a white glove," Geoff said back.

"What?" Malfoy said.

"Never mind, sometimes Malfoy, I think you should've taken muggle studies. Then I can actually have an intelligent conversation with you."

"Just because I'm not a humongous geek who takes every class offered here, especially one that is about the most meaningless creatures that exist doesn't mean I need to lower myself and my family by studying muggle facts and figures."

"You have to remember, you include yourself in that figure. Your human too, you just happen to be a wizard," Geoff said, "aha, I gotcha now." He reeled with triumph and placed the small animal back into a cage with other ones. "All right, there are 32 in here."

Malfoy wiped his brow and finished tallying up the results. "That has to be it," he said. He and Geoff were both tired, dirty, not to mention hungry. After this task was completed, he planned to scrounge some food up in the kitchen.

'Nothing like having a bunch of house-elves wait on me to lift my spirits,' Malfoy thought with glee.

The two boys approached McGonagall's desk with caution. She looked up at the two approaching.

"Are you finished," she asked looking the both of them up and down at their disheveled appearance. They nodded. "Well I will have to inspect what you did, and I will count all the items on the list myself just to make sure you haven't tried to cheat your way through the process." Malfoy and Geoff both looked at each other and groaned.

Suddenly a loud booming noise sounded from somewhere in the castle.

"PEEVES," the Professor yelled, "you two will remain here until I get back." With that she scurried from the office.

Draco and Geoff wearily sat down in a couple of armchairs. Draco laid his head down onto McGonagall's desk.

Geoff examined his clothing. "I cannot wait to bathe," he said, "Do you think anyone will be in the prefect's bathroom tonight?" Malfoy sat up and smirked at his friend.

"Oh the great Geoff wants to take a girly bath ehh?" he teased, "better make sure to get all nice and clean to get ready for his admirers,"

Geoff pushed at Malfoy, but their attention was both brought to a figure that appeared in the doorway.

'I need permission to get into the restricted section again from McGonagall,' she thought. She entered the room but stopped when she saw two people-the last ones she thought she would encounter; which included someone who made her stomach do somersaults.

"Oh, I'm sorry. Have you two seen Professor McGonagall," She asked quietly.

She looked away at Geoff but kept her eyes forward. Geoff's attention immediately drew to the willowy and petite brunette that haunted his every thought. He automatically answered to Malfoy's entertainment.

"She stepped out but she'll be back. I think Peeves is out causing trouble tonight," Geoff answered.

"Oh," Daveigh said an uncomfortable silence settling in. Malfoy yawned while Geoff looked at, then away from Daveigh. She kept her eyes to the floor and tapped her foot.

"So…do you know how long she'll be gone," she finally said.

"I guess after everything's settled," Geoff said. Malfoy sat back and enjoyed the look of awkwardness on Geoff's face.

'What a sod, he can't keep his eyes off her, very smooth man, very smooth,' Malfoy thought.

"I guess I'll talk to her another time," Daveigh finally said and began to retreat from the office.

"No!" Geoff stopped. Daveigh turned around and stared at Geoff with confusion.

"I mean", he continued, "I'm sure she'll be back very soon, besides, there's enough room for the three of us in here." He looked around at a couple of empty chairs next to him. She shrugged her shoulders and sat one seat away from Geoff.

Silence ensued for a couple of more minutes. Finally, Geoff got up the courage to speak to her again.

"Your in Gryffindor, right?" he asked stupidly.

"It says so on my robes," she said pointing to the lion emblem. Malfoy held in a laugh and turned to look away. Geoff kicked him which caused Malfoy to let out the laugh he'd been holding in and instead he coughed repeatedly. Daveigh looked over at the Slytherin boy.

"Are you all right?" she asked.

Malfoy ignored her and sucked in deep breaths which helped to stop the coughing. Geoff turned his attention back to Daveigh.

"I've seen you around, you know in the library. What classes are you taking this term?"

Daveigh looked at Geoff with interest, her eyes lit up a bit but suspicion still lingered in her violet depths. Geoff realized her trust would be much more worth the earning if he tried to catch her interest in something.

"Oh, lots of things, I wish I could take everything," she giggled, "but this being my O.W.L.S. year I have to concentrate on the basics and prepare myself for the future."

"I've taken everything," Geoff bragged. Daveigh looked at him impressed. He continued, "I am in all the top O.W.L.S. courses that they offer. That way, whatever I choose, I know I'll already be certified for it."

"How is that possible? I mean, how do you have time to take all of those classes?" she said, then her mouth then formed a perfect 'oh'.

Geoff smiled, and leaned forward a bit, allowing hair escape into his eyes which usually caught the attention of any girl. Daveigh though was still mesmerized by Geoff's brains.

"I know how you can do that…..a time turner. Well, I promise not to tell on any account," she said quietly. Geoff watched the way her cherry lips moved with every word.

"Oh, that's no problem, half the school knows anyway. After Granger got away with it a few years ago, the ministry has been a bit more lenient on those of us with merit. Have you taken muggle studies?"

He'd caught her by surprise. 'Imagine, I am having a decent conversation with a Slytherin, and about muggle studies for that matter! I can't wait to tell Ginny,' she thought. "Oh, I don't really need to take muggle studies, I'm a half blood."

Geoff looked at her with astonishment. "Really? Which parent is the wizard then?"

"My father, he attended Hogwarts too." Daveigh looked at the door. She started to become a little uncomfortable with his questions and staring, but tried not to let him in on how she was feeling. Malfoy sat in the chair with his head bent low. He was fast asleep.

"That's fascinating," Geoff said, "are you going to the masque tomorrow night?"

Daveigh looked at him with surprise. Butterflies started to settle into her stomach. "Y-Yes."

"Great. I will see you tomorrow night then, perhaps you'll save me a dance."

"That will be kind of hard, you know with our masks," she pointed out.

"Let's just say, I will find you," he answered the innuendo apparent.

Daveigh's heart beat very fast. 'This is not good,' she thought, 'I can't get involved with him. Just look away, look away.'

Professor McGonagall entered the room and to her surprise saw a third member in the room. "Ms. Porter," the professor said "what can I do for you?"

Daveigh looked away from Geoff's silvery blue depths and answered the woman, "I need another pass to the restricted section professor. I didn't find what I was looking for, but I am sure with another look I can limit my search."

McGonagall frowned. "This is the last time Ms. Porter, search with discretion. There are too many underlying spells and curses that are throughout the volumes. I wouldn't do this for many students, but you are among the best." She signed a slip of parchment Daveigh held out. "Well gentleman, I am worn out. I guess you may go now." She looked at the two boys.

"Excuse me, Mr. Malfoy, YOU MAY GO," she shouted. Draco woke up with a start and looked around at where he was. Geoff had an amused look on his face and the half-blood girl stared at him with contempt.

"Let's go," Draco turned to Geoff and began to head out of the room. Geoff followed behind slowly, Daveigh walking next to him. The trio reached the staircase, the Slytherin's needed to travel down the staircase, and Daveigh up to Gryffindor tower.

"Thanks," Daveigh said, "I guess I may see you tomorrow evening."

"You better believe it," Geoff answered. Malfoy stood on the landing below impatiently rolling his eyes. Daveigh turned and began walking up the moving staircases.

"Wait!" Geoff called, "What's your name?"

She turned around slowly. "Daveigh, Daveigh Porter."

"I'm Geoff Lovegood," He said proudly, "Luna's cousin."

"I know who you are," she said, "see you tomorrow." With that she continued up the stairs. Geoff kept his eyes trained on her form until his neck began to get tired from looking up the staircases.

"Ready Casanova," Malfoy threw out at him. Geoff turned to look with surprise. "Well he was a great lover of ladies, get over it. Don't ask how I know about him." Malfoy warned and continued down the marble staircase to the dungeons.

* * *

Daveigh made her way into the common room after her field trip and encounter with Geoff and Malfoy. She looked around at all of her fellow Gryffindor's who were in rare form for the evening. A large game of exploding snap was going on which included Ginny, who looked to be heavily involved in it against most of the Gryffindor boys including Harry and Ron. The female members of Gryffindor were in another corner discussing hair and makeup for tomorrow night.

"Ha ha, I win again," Ginny exclaimed after the flames finally calmed down after the last round. She laughed at the appalled look on the faces of the boys, and gave a swift kiss on Dean's cheek. She got up and made her way over to the group of giggling girls in the corner. Seeing Daveigh suddenly with a flushed look, she immediately took a detour and walked over to her friend.

"What happened," Ginny asked. Daveigh saying nothing grabbed her hand and led her up to their dorm. She quickly closed the door and locked it.

"I think I'm in love," Daveigh said.

Ginny sat down slowly unto her bed at this news. "With who?"

"Luna's cousin," Daveigh answered. She told Ginny about the encounter in McGonagall's office.

Ginny began to laugh, and didn't stop laughing for five minutes.

"What's so funny?" Daveigh said sitting down next to her friend.

"Dava, that's not love your feeling, that's desire hon," Ginny finally said, taking in short breaths. Her brown eyes gleamed with amusement.

"Desire?" Daveigh finally said with shock, "I don't desire him… Believe it or not, I think he's cute and all, but what did it for me was when he said he had taken every class that there is to offer at Hogwarts." She dreamily began to think about Geoff.

Ginny snorted and burst into laughter again. Daveigh joined her and the two spent the majority of the time laughing.

A knock then sounded outside the door, "Are you gonna let us in on the joke, or am I going to have to blow the door open," Ashley yelled through the door. Ginny and Daveigh both got up and ran to the door, laughing all the way.


	11. Masquerade

Chapter 11-Masquerade

Saturday arrived much to everyone's excitement. The crisp fall day promised mystery, romance, and intrigue with the impending event later this evening. Ginny awoke that morning with a pit deep in her stomach, 'Today's the day,' she thought and then drew the covers back over her head. Suddenly they were yanked off and there stood Daveigh looking down at her.

"Come on Gin, get up" Daveigh chirped, "It's a beautiful day outside." She began opening the heavy red velvet curtains allowing the sunshine to peak through.

Ginny stared at her friend with half lidded eyes, "Why are you so happy?" she murmured curling up in a ball on her bed. The other girls began to awaken as the windows drew more light into the room.

Daveigh bounced lightly onto Ginny's bed, "No reason," she answered, "ok I lied, I can't wait for tonight!"

Ginny grinned at her friend, "Me too, I mean I'm nervous, but I'm happy at the same time."

"Yeah, you've been keeping secrets from me Ginny Weasley," Daveigh accused, "I'm also happy because McGonagall gave me permission again and I plan on spending the entire afternoon in the library searching through the restricted section."

Ginny looked at her friend with a crazy look, "Daveigh! When are you gonna have time to get dressed for the ball? Remember, it starts at 6:00. Well the feast does anyway; you don't want to miss that! I've heard so many rumors about tonight, someone told me Dumbledore is planning fireworks before the dance begins, done by yours truly." Ginny took a moment to think about her brothers.

"Fireworks at Halloween?" Daveigh questioned, "Is he off his rocker or what?"

Ginny shrugged and began to get dressed.

* * *

Ginny decided to take an afternoon nap before she got ready for the ball. Her dreams were full of the key again, but nothing new happened. She kept getting stuck outside the staircase but had no view of the new room she was in. After that, Malfoy drifted into her dreams and Ginny began to fantasize about his muscular form on hers……

Ginny's sleep was interrupted with the sound of a door slamming.

"Ginny! Wake up! It's almost five!" Daveigh called out and began searching through her trunk for her costume. Ginny woke up with a start.

"5:00! Oh no! I have so many things I need to do!" Ginny began going into a whirlwind faster than Daveigh, and soon the floor was cluttered with clothes.

Naomi walked into the room, her whole body covered with a black cloak. The only hint of color on her person was a pair of red spiked heel boots peeking out from underneath the cloak. She carried a glittered red mask in her hand and a headband with devil's horns. Her hair was drawn up into a long ponytail on top of her head which ended in the middle of her back. Her makeup consisted of deep blood red lipstick and rouge colored blush. Her eyes were smoky with grays and blacks. She stopped at the tornado which was still going on.

"What are you two doing?" The two girls stopped and stared at their friend.

"Wow," Daveigh exclaimed, "You look great! But what's with the cloak?"

"Gotta leave something a mystery. I'll take it off when the dancing starts," Naomi said, "Um…do you need some help? I mean it's almost five!"

Ginny stopped and looked at Naomi "I can't find my shoes!"

* * *

Ten minutes to six, the five girls made their way down the stairs to the common room. The room was abuzz and glittered with costumes and masks of different elements. Ginny peered through her mask and tried to find Dean among the threshold of people.

"My angel….." someone said coming up behind her. Ginny let out a scream and turned around. Dean held his hand out to her which contained a red rose. He was dressed like the Phantom of the Opera, his white mask only covering half of his face. He wore a black and white tuxedo, with a black cloak which billowed over his right shoulder.

Ginny grinned at her date and accepted the rose. "Sorry I screamed like that, you snuck up on me all of a sudden."

"You look great Gin, how are you feeling tonight?"

Ginny sucked in a deep breath. She was dressed as Christine from the muggle musical Phantom of the Opera. It was Dean's suggestion and she went along with whatever he said. Ginny was dressed in a green velvet gown which was cut low in the bosom, and had billowing puffed long sleeves which came off the shoulder. Her waist was tucked in tightly with the use of a corset and the skirt of the dress billowed out. Underneath she had on black kid boots which would help with dancing later. She carried a mask on a long stick which she held up to her face. It was black with green ribbons dangling on the sides. Her hair was curled and hung loosely in the back. It looked great with the color of her dress.

"Ginny, where are you," Daveigh called feeling in front of her.

"Wow Daveigh, you look great," Dean said to the girl.

"Yeah, but I can't see a thing!" Daveigh was the surprise beauty of the night. Tonight, Ginny convinced Dava to go without her glasses because of the mask. She was dressed as Rapunzel, the fairytale princess. Dava wore a purple gown which had an empire waist and ruffled beautifully down her frame and coincided nicely with her eyes. She had taken her hair out of its usual braid and let it hang down in waves down her back with purple satin ribbons entwined in it. A purple mask was settled on her face, and on her head were twin peaks with purple fabric trailing from behind. Her eyes were decorated with soft mists of silver and purple.

"Don't worry Daveigh, I'll stay by your side," Colin suddenly said and came to the aid of Daveigh.

"Is that you Colin," Daveigh asked. Colin retreated over but barely missed Daveigh's hands about to poke him in the eye.

Ginny and Dean stood nearby holding in a laugh.

"Gin, this is all your fault," Daveigh blamed and took Colin's arm. Colin led her away gawking at Daveigh the whole time. Most of the Gryffindor males watched Daveigh's reveal with surprise and many offered to dance with her that night.

Ginny and Dean made their way out of the door and to the great Hall. "Are you ready," Dean asked.

"Let the show begin," Ginny murmured and took his arm.

* * *

The gang arrived in the Great Hall with excitement. The stairs leading down to the first floor was decorated with drifting candles that guided the students down into the dark depths. The air was filled with anticipation and growling stomachs.

"I'm hungry," Ron said to Hermione. They were dressed as the King and Queen of Hearts. Hermione rolled her eyes at him. Harry walked behind them closely, his hair spiked all over his head. His brilliant green eyes were covered with a green mask and he wore his green dress robes. He and Luna decided on coming as their own Hogwarts selves. As they got closer to the Great Hall, Harry said goodbye to Ron and Hermione for the moment and went to look for Luna. He couldn't tell who anyone was with the masks on, but he knew to look for someone that looked like him, well dressed and normal. Suddenly a figure in a shocking pink mini dress came towards him. Harry looked at the female figure coming towards him and stared at the long pale legs.

"Hi Harry," the female figure said. She was wearing a pink mini dress which had a wide white belt around the middle. The person wore white go-go boots, and had several bangles on her wrists. Her hair was piled into a humongous bee hive on top of her head, and she wore a white mask. Her lips were colored a pink the same color as her dress.

Harry gulped. "L-Luna?"

"Yeah," she grinned, "how do you like my dress?" She turned around slowly for Harry to peruse her. He was still shocked that underneath the layers of robes she wore everyday, there were long luxurious legs. "Ummm…" Harry said but couldn't quite get the words out. Luna leaned over and kissed Harry. 'Is this a brand new Luna?' Harry thought and let her pull him into the Great Hall.

What they walked into was everyone's Halloween dream. The Great Hall looked like something out of Honeydukes. The ceiling above was enchanted like the night sky, but instead of stars, several dark shadowy witches on brooms road overhead. The moon was perfectly full, and white with dark craters. The walls looked to be covered with candy, candy wallpaper which the students walked over to and snatched at. Right where the missing candy was, a new piece appeared in its place. Jack o' lanterns wavered overhead, cut out with faces of the staff at Hogwarts. Harry didn't know what to look at first, the girl on his arm, or the creation in front of him.

Several circular tables were set up around the room decorated with cobweb tablecloths much to Ron's disappointment. The Hogwarts house-elves walked around the room wearing masks and carrying trays of Butterbeer, pumpkin juice, and Gillywater, offering it to the couples that stood around admiring the decorations. Ahead where the head table usually sat, a stage was set up, with the curtains closed. Harry found Hermione who was convincing Ron that the cobweb tablecloth contained no spiders and walked over to them with Luna.

"Honestly Ron, are you going to stand through entire the feast," Hermione questioned. Ron's face, behind the mask was deep red. "Well…..I am hungry," he said for the second time tonight and sat down with defeat. He checked the tablecloth again and sighed. Harry and Luna approached them.

Hermione glanced at the person with Harry, and looked down at the long legs that were uncovered. "Luna, is that you," Hermione said with surprise. Ron looked to say hello but his mouth was tongue-tied. Hermione slapped him on the head, and Ron was able to mutter out, "Yeah Luna, you look nice." Harry grinned at Ron's Freudian slip and sat down next to his friends.

* * *

Daveigh's toes were already hurting her and she was as blind as a bat. Colin did his best to lead her to the table with Ginny and the rest of her friends and by the time the first course appeared, Daveigh took off her mask and put on her glasses.

"Daveigh, you took your mask off," Lucy said with shock, "it's not midnight yet." The whole table looked at the girl dressed as Wonderwoman.

"Lucy, we know it's her, besides, now she looks like a smart Rapunzel," Ginny joked.

"Plus her glasses are kind of like a mask," Dean added. He helped himself to a second helping of the kidney pie. He then brought his attention to Ginny. "Ok, so far everything is going according to plan. I haven't seen Malfoy yet, though it's hard to know who he is but I'm sure he's here. Plus, Naomi is without a date." He glanced to the girl in black and red.

Ginny's stomach became sicker with every passing thought. She was relieved that their charade was almost over with, but how she could find Malfoy was beyond her.

"We should break up after dinner," Ginny said to him, "before the dance begins. That way you can be with her sooner." Dean's attention strayed to Naomi and that cloak.

Dinner progressed on much to everyone's delight. Dumbledore in a mask with bright red and gold feathers, stood up which signaled the end of dinner. "Now that we have eaten to our delight, we will have the next part of the festivities outside. Everyone please follow me." Dumbledore led the students out of the doors and into the courtyard.

The night sky was filled with stars as far as the eye can see. Sitting in a canoe in the middle of the lake sat Fred and George Weasley. The students stood around with excitement, some sitting on the dewy grass and waited for something to happen. The first burst of gold hit the sky, and glittery pumpkins began to burst from the fiery tubes. Several filibuster fireworks burst open to reveal Halloween ghouls and goblins, black cats, werewolves, mummies, and other Halloween figures. The entire school stood transfixed at the display and cooed at the show.

The last firework burst open and a figure in the sky appeared flying around on a broom. As the figure descended, Ashley exclaimed, "its Celestina Warbeck!" The whole school looked at her then back at the sky. Another firework burst open and glittery words appeared in the sky:

"_Songstress Celestina Warbeck"_

A haunting melody began to fill the air which caused the students to start swaying slightly. Many of the students started to walk slowly back to the Great Hall in a trance.

As they entered the room, some noticed that the tables were against the wall, and lights sparkled through the room, giving the room an ethereal glow. The stage curtains remained closed, but a billowing smoke began to rise from the stage. The students stood transfixed to the stage. Suddenly a voice was heard throughout the hall:

_I put a spell on you…_

_But now your mine!_

_I put a spell on you…_

It sounded like the voice was coming through the walls, inside and outside, in between students, into their heads. Hermione looked up at the enchanted sky and began to see a figure flying overhead coming closer and lower. The music became louder as the voice chanted the same words over and over……. suddenly the figure burst out from the enchanted sky and skidded onto the stage on the broom. The curtains opened quickly and a full band started to play. Celestina Warbeck turned around suddenly and burst into song.

* * *

Ginny and Dean remained outside despite the concert that began inside.

"Well that didn't work very well," Ginny said, "I didn't think Dumbledore would spring her up on us like that."

Dean looked disappointed but stood trying to come up with an idea. "It doesn't have to be public; we just need one person, one person who has a big enough mouth to see us arguing, and then it'll be all over the school in half a second."

The two stood outside alone, hoping for fate to intervene.

"I can't believe he wouldn't dance with me," Pansy muttered disappointedly. She had spent a great deal of money on her costume tonight, and Draco hadn't paid one bit of attention to her. Now she was resolved to go find someplace she could lick her wounds, but instead she heard something that made her night a little bit brighter…….

"Someone's coming," Ginny whispered. It was now or never.

"I can't believe that I saw you kissing her," Ginny suddenly said. Pansy stopped when she heard that and hid behind a tree. She peered around and saw a lone couple-Weasley and Thomas, who could miss her with that hair color. Pansy grinned evilly and continued to eavesdrop.

"I can't believe you kissed her on our anniversary," Ginny said trying to draw up tears.

"Please baby, give me one more chance," Dean replied back, "I'll make it up to you!"

"How can you even say that? After all we've been through. The entire summer I was true to you. And then I found that letter that American girl wrote you, that's why we broke up the first time." Ginny lied and continued on becoming the believable hurt girlfriend, "and I give you a second chance, hoping that maybe you've changed, and I find you kissing that bloody slut!" Ginny walked up more and got into Dean's face and winked slightly.

Dean stood engrossed in the charade, but he was playing the part well looking like an escaped prisoner who had just gotten caught. Pansy leaned deeper into the conversation, lapping up every drop like a dog.

Ginny began to cry fake tears, and Dean tried to be the consoling boyfriend. Ginny pulled away and said, "It's over Dean. I've given you too many chances. You don't care for me, go find your little slut and be with her." She turned and looked at him. Suddenly, to add to the drama, Ginny drew her hand back and slapped Dean in the face.

Dean's hand automatically went to his cheek, and he glared angrily at Ginny. "Fine, have it your way." He began to retreat back to the castle.

Pansy quickly turned around and rushed back to the castle. Dean and Ginny watched her retreating figure running back through the doors of the courtyard and he stopped and turned around.

"That really hurt Ginny," Dean said still holding his bruised cheek. Ginny walked up to him and checked it.

"Ooh, sorry Dean. I got a little carried away."

"To say the least," he said and began to laugh, "What are the odds that the biggest mouth in the school happens upon our little exchange tonight?" Ginny laughed at that.

"Well you better get inside and find Naomi, I bet she's eager to console you," Ginny teased.

"Deal, wait five minutes, and then come in after me," Dean said. He began to walk up to the castle.

Ginny watched her fake ex-boyfriend walk into the castle swiftly. She felt like a huge weight had been lifted off her shoulder. After a few minutes she walked up to the castle eager to find her prince.

* * *

Daveigh sat at the table with Naomi and stared at the couple on the dance floor. A fast tune was on, and Daveigh watched Ron trying to keep up with Hermione.

"Looks painful doesn't it," Naomi commented acknowledging Neville and Lucy who were dancing together. Daveigh looked over at that couple but quickly looked back at the other one.

"I have my eyes on Frankenstein's long lost son," Daveigh said, commenting on how stiff Ron's dance moves were. Naomi laughed. She still wore her cloak; there was no sign of Dean or Ginny anywhere. Daveigh had told Naomi that Ginny was up to something tonight, it had something to do with Dean. She convinced Naomi that Ginny was really interested in someone else. Daveigh told Naomi that she suspected Ginny was really trying to make that person jealous.

Colin wandered over to their table much to Daveigh's dismay.

"Hi girls," he said, "I've got something to tell you that will blow your mind." He leaned over and began to give them the details of the break-up everyone missed outside. Naomi and Daveigh looked at each other. Daveigh winked at Naomi who was beaming at the news. Dean appeared at the door to the Great Hall and after searching through the crowded room, he cut through couples dancing really fast. He walked over to Naomi.

"Do you want to dance," he asked his heart beating a mile a minute.

Naomi nodded and stood up. She took his hand, but then decided to take off her cloak. She slowly took it off, and what she had on underneath made Dean's knees go weak. Naomi was wearing a black and red leather outfit, the top was red, tight bustier and the skirt was short and black with red and black suspenders attached. His eyes drew down her legs for which were covered with black fishnets and the killer red spiked heeled boots completed the outfit. She looked every bit a she-devil, wicked, and very tempting.

"You like," she asked. He grunted a yes and led her out onto the dance floor.

Daveigh remained alone for a while until Ginny appeared at the table.

"Did he find her," Ginny asked searching the crowd.

"Yep," Daveigh answered. Ginny beamed at the couple, winked at Dean and gave him a thumbs up.

"Has anyone asked you to dance yet," Ginny asked her friend. Daveigh shook her head and kept watching the couples. Ginny watched her friends face, she was disappointed. Suddenly Ginny had an idea.

"Daveigh, take your glasses off," Ginny decided.

"But I can't see without them," Daveigh said but followed her friends instructions reluctantly and replaced them with her mask. With the glasses on, she was studious, boring old Daveigh, but with the mask contrasting with her outfit, she was mysterious, the beauty no one knew.

A few minutes later, a Hufflepuff 7th year Ginny had seen around the castle came over to ask Daveigh to dance. She grinned at the sudden turn of luck, thanked Ginny and retreated off with the boy. Ginny smiled at her friend and began to feel suddenly a feeling of foreboding. _Something was wrong_.

* * *

Daveigh danced the next two dances with the Hufflepuff boy, and was passed off to someone else. She couldn't see who she was with, but she was having the time of her life.

'I guess I should invest in muggle contacts,' Daveigh thought. A slow and haunting tune started.

The lights dimmed and the smoky voice of Celestina came in: "This song is dedicated to the lonely werewolf in my life…."

She began to sing the lulling lyrics of "Under the Full Moon"

_As the moon burns brightly_

_My love turns away_

_I sense something is wrong_

_As he runs from me…_

_I stare outside calling him_

_And the only answer given_

_Is one I don't recognize_

_I become afraid for my love,_

_I feel danger outside_

_But the clouds part and the stars shine bright_

_Under the Full Moon, his love feels so right_

_He transforms before me, into my lone wolf_

_Slipping into a daze, I follow his call_

_Outside into the night, I follow his call_

_Through the meadows and into the deep woods_

_The closer I get, the more I want to know_

_I feel afraid, knowing he's near_

_Somehow I know our love will persevere _

_Through all the trials his secret will cause_

_As the danger envelops me_

_But the clouds part and the stars shine bright_

_Under the Full moon, his love feels so right_

_He transforms before me, into my lone wolf_

Daveigh felt someone bring her close as the song continued, and she felt a pair of strong arms wrapping around her.

"I told you I'd find you," a voice said. Daveigh let the music and the dance take her away.

As the song ended, the lights slowly came up. Couples still swayed even though the music stopped. It was midnight, the revealing of the masks. Celestina Warbeck started the revealing ceremony and took her mask off. This was a face seen all over the Witch Weekly.

Soon students began to take their masks off. Daveigh waited for her new partner to take off his mask. But she still couldn't see. She took her mask off, and put on her glasses. In front of her was a guy with a dark black mask, but it was more like a scarf tied around his face. He wore a white cottony shirt which was open at the top, and she could see a sprinkling of light hair. A cape hung around his neck, and on the lower part of his body was a pair of black breeches, with a sash tied around his waist. A sword hung from his hips.

He smiled and untied his mask. It was Geoff. Daveigh grinned and leaned in to kiss him.

"I dreamed of you as Rapunzel," he said before drawing her into a steamy kiss. Around them the students were either in surprise at their partner, or disgusted.

Parvati Patil was dancing with Colin to her surprise. She drew away from him quickly, and went to find Lavender. She couldn't believe the sensitive caring guy she was with the whole night turned out to be Colin!

Malfoy took his mask off, and looked for Ginny. He heard the rumors from those around him. She was free. He began searching the room with alarm, not seeing the red-head anywhere. He didn't even know what she wore. As he continued, he began to feel that something wasn't right. Suddenly, the feeling built up more and more and he left the Great Hall at once. He had to find her.


	12. Electric

Chapter Twelve- Electric

_Ginny stood in front of the great door pulling at the door knob. 'Why do I feel like I've been here before,' she quickly thought and kept trying to pry it open. _

_She listened very carefully to the sounds around her. If she heard one creak of noise on the staircase behind her, she would know that the intruder was closing in on her. Ginny quickly tried 'Alohomora' with her wand and found that she was still locked out._

'_Why is it that there are more locked doors than unlocked ones?' she asked herself. Ginny slowly slid to the floor and pulled out the key which started it all. She examined it again looking for any clues to what its purpose was. Ginny began to vaguely remember the last time she was at this point. She stood up quickly with alarm and with instinct, fit the key into the lock in front of her. It easily slid into the small keyhole, and she turned the knob. _

"_I can't believe it," she said out loud. Ginny stood in her dormitory. The mysterious door from the other side was really a floor-length mirror she and her dorm mates shared and looked into each day. Ginny looked behind her: the stairwell remained dark with no sound of noise coming from beyond. She turned back to the room she slept in every night and walked around, looking to see if anything was different and out of place. She drew her fingers across each bed post, looking to see if the initials she and her dorm mates carved into the beds were there. Sure enough, she saw the initials D.P. carved into the bedpost on Daveigh's bed._

_Ginny sat down on the bed and looked with confusion all around her._

'_Why is this passageway in my room? How could any of us not have noticed it in five years?' Among the silence, she pondered this thought. Ginny looked towards the door and stared at it with confusion. She slowly walked over to the mirrored door and quickly shut it. _

_She began to closely examine the frame of the mirror. Yes, she looked in it everyday just like the rest of her friends, but the frame didn't seem out of the ordinary: it was copper in color, with carved vines and flowers which ran all along the frame. Ginny ran her fingers over the detail, pressing the middle of each flower, wondering if perhaps doing so would open the door. After a few minutes, she gave up after searching every flower. Ginny defeated fell onto Daveigh's bed and glanced over at her friend's dressing table. A book lay open, and Ginny curiously turned it over to read the title:_

'_The Secret Key' Olivia Locke. _

"_Olivia, Olivia, why does that name ring a bell?" she said out loud to herself. All of a sudden she heard a noise from the other side of the mirror. _

_Ginny tip-toed quietly over to the mirrored door- It was the intruder! Ginny pressed her body against the mirror, hoping to keep him from coming through. She was able to hold the door closed with the continued pounding on the other side, but soon she began to lose her strength. Her body began to slowly sink downward to the floor, weary. As she sat with her back pressed against the door, the room around her began to sway in front of her eyes then became dark..._

* * *

Draco ran straight out of the great hall, made his way through the entrance hall and up the marble stairs. He suddenly stopped himself.

'What am I doing,' he thought catching his breath.

When it came to Ginny Weasley, nothing made any sense. From the first moment he happened to really look at her was when he stood outside of the Great Hall those months ago- he never thought he'd be chasing after her like a crazed lunatic. He had one chance encounter with her one night, after the muggle-lover screamed through the school. Memories of her soft lips and body pressed against him filled his mind, and heat rushed through his body.

Draco snapped out of his fantasy and looked around. He glanced up at the various moving staircases overhead. 'Where should I start?' he thought.

It was necessary that he locate her, and quickly. From the moment he noticed her missing from the ball, he had gotten a sick feeling in his stomach. Draco instinctively drew his hand to the necklace his mum had given him years ago. It was a small key, an odd trinket that his mom insisted he wear. He felt a bit of comfort holding on to the memory of when he first received it. After a bit, he decided to continue to search for Ginny. When he reached the 6th floor, he stopped.

'Perhaps she's here,' he thought and walked down the dark hallway. The candle decorations from the ball drifted by and remained lit which created dancing shadows as he made his way slowly past the unused classrooms.

The only sound came from his rapid breathing from running up six flights of stairs. Draco drew his wand out and prepared to use it as a precaution. He passed the empty classrooms and closets looking for light, a sign of movement or sound, anything that could give away her location. For some reason he felt that she was around here somewhere- it had something to do with the last time he encountered her alone. Draco soon came close to the end of the hallway and reached the door he had found Ginny in front of the last time.

Unfortunately for him, the way was clear. Draco was about to turn around and give up when he heard a thump from inside the room. He immediately tried the doorknob, and to his surprise it opened easily. Draco slid into the dark unused classroom, quickly lighting his wand.

"Lumos."

He started towards the front of the classroom, shining the wand light around himself, watching his every step. He reached the front of the classroom and shined the tip around the perimeter, and came to a section of the wall where a large tapestry hung. He drew the light over it, and continued moving it downward to the floor. Lying in front of the tapestry was Ginny Weasley.

* * *

"I-I had a great time with you," Daveigh stammered. She and Geoff were the last few people remaining in the great hall, and Filch was making idle threats to those who were left.

Geoff replied, "I think we better say goodnight elsewhere before Filch decides to give us detention."

The pair made their way out of the great hall quickly, and wandered over to the marble staircase. Daveigh shuffled her feet around, waiting for one of them to say something.

"Well I had a great time too," Geoff said, "Has anyone ever told you that you have the most amazing eyes I've ever seen."

Daveigh's cheeks turned deep red at this compliment. Geoff began to lean in closely, and as he did this Daveigh closed her eyes and held her breath. Her heart hammered against her chest as Geoff's lips descended onto hers. This was her second kiss ever- it felt more passionate than the first one he gave her earlier after the mask reveal. Geoff's tongue slipped into Daveigh's open lips and began to caress the inside of her mouth. She tasted like buttered rum, and he continued to peruse the inside of her mouth. Behind them someone cleared their throat and the two broke apart quickly. Blaise Zabini stood there linked arm in arm with Pansy Parkinson, looking very much amused at the situation.

"Looks like Lovegood's snagged a new lady," Blaise commented to Pansy. Pansy's eyes took in the pair which was looking everywhere but at each other. Geoff looked livid at the interruption.

"So Pansy, looks like you didn't make out too bad tonight. I imagine you were the one who started that rumor about Weasley and Thomas in the first place. Too bad it backfired on you tonight, Thomas is with someone new, and I think Draco decided to pursue Weasley," Geoff lashed out.

Pansy's face became red with anger, and she was about to respond when Daveigh interrupted.

"Geoff, I better go," Daveigh turned and began to make her way upstairs. Geoff threw Pansy a look of 'contempt, and rushed to catch up with the self-conscious Gryffindor.

"Daveigh- I'm sorry about that, I didn't want our night to end like this. But if you like, we could meet tomorrow. In the library, after lunch?"

Daveigh nodded and Geoff leaned in and kissed her again which left Daveigh light as a feather. "Till tomorrow…" he finished and made his way down the stairs. Daveigh leaned against the wall of the staircase and breathed a sigh. 'What an amazing night! I can't wait to see him tomorrow…..' She turned to continue up the stairs when she heard talking below her.

Curious, she tip-toed down the stairs and peered around the corner. Near the entrance to the dungeon, she espied Geoff, Pansy, and Blaise standing at the entrance.

"When did you become interested in little miss know it all?" Pansy asked. Daveigh began to fume but waited to see how Geoff would respond.

"I didn't know you liked girls who wore coke-bottle glasses," Blaise retorted. He drew his arm around Pansy and whispered in her ear. Geoff stood there, his face expressionless. After a while he replied.

"Just another conquest to me," he replied to the couple, "You should've seen how I had her eating out of my hand by the end of the night." Pansy giggled when Blaise nuzzled her neck with his nose. "Ugh, will you two get a room." Geoff said and continued down into the dungeons with the couple trailing behind him.

Daveigh remained on the staircase staring at the empty space. Her heart felt like it was breaking into little pieces, and tears began to roll down her cheeks. She drew off her twin peaks, and sat down on the staircase.

"So I'm just another conquest, huh Geoff," Daveigh muttered underneath her breath, "we'll just have to see about that."

She wiped her eyes, took a deep breath and marched up the steps, determination in her eyes.

* * *

Ginny slowly opened her eyes and tried to sit up. She could hear voices around her but she couldn't tell who they belonged to. Her eyes adjusted to the dim light as she glanced up at the ceiling. She now knew who the voice belonged to.

"I came as soon as I heard how is she?" Ron asked with alarm. Madame Pomfrey who was stacking bottles of rejuvenating potions in a cabinet, gave him a look at the noise he was making.

"Mr. Weasley remember this is a hospital, please lower your voice." She glanced over at Hermione who had a hand placed on Ron's shoulder to calm him down. Harry stood further in the background near the door.

"Please Madame Pomfrey, is my sister going to be ok?"

Madame Pomfrey looked at the trio and finally answered, "She'll be fine Mr. Weasley, and she collapsed in a classroom on the 6th floor." Hermione drew in a sharp breath. Madame Pomfrey gave a look to her, and continued on, "as of now she is still asleep, nothing else seems to be wrong with her. When she first arrived here, her dreams made her restless and she kept talking in her sleep, so I administered a dreamless sleep potion. If it weren't for Mr. Malfoy, I'm not sure how long it would've been before anyone found her."

Ron sat down on one of the beds after hearing Malfoy's name. Hermione glanced at Harry with confusion, and he shrugged his shoulders over this.

"She needs her rest now, you three may stay for a bit, but I will call you again when she awakens. Please remain as quiet as possible." Madame Pomfrey sauntered over to her office.

"Malfoy?" Ron said becoming angry, "I bet he's what made her collapse. Oh when I get my hands on him." The tone of his voice escalated with each syllable. Suddenly, a new voice entered the conversation.

"You'll do what Weasley," Draco asked retreating from behind the curtain around Ginny's bed. He walked slowly over to Ron whose face was filled with disbelief.

"I'll pound your face in. What the bloody hell did you do to my sister," Ron jumped up. Hermione and Harry both stood up to hold Ron back but the fiery red-head walked up to Malfoy.

"Ron, shhh! You'll get yourself kicked out, think of Ginny," Hermione said.

"You better listen to your mudblood girlfriend Weasley," Draco teased, "or are you afraid of a challenge." Draco took out his wand, Ron doing the same. The two stood staring into each others eyes, waiting for each other to make the first move. Hermione stood angrily looking on. "Are you going to do anything?" she asked Harry. Harry looking slightly amused shook his head and sat back down on the bed.

"Unbelieveable!" Hermione whispered and joined Harry. A clock ticked as the seconds rolled by. Neither Draco nor Ron made a move. Actually they both looked pretty ridiculous. Draco was still in his costume from the ball, and Ron's hair stood on top of his head-obviously he'd been fast asleep when he got the news about his sister.

This was the scene Ginny first saw when she finally was able to get out of bed. After hearing the argument commence, she gathered her strength and quickly drew the curtain away from her.

At the sound of the curtain moving, Draco turned and just as that happened, Ron yelled, "_Expelliarmus_." Draco's body flew into the air and he hit the wall with a loud thump.

"What is going-" Madame Pomfrey exclaimed and quickly walked out of her office. She gasped at the scene in front of her. "Mr. Weasley, I am ashamed at your conduct. Mr. Potter, please get Professor McGonagall at once."

Madam Pomfrey leaned over Draco, who seemed to be knocked out. She drew a small bottle from beneath her robe, opened it, and waved it underneath his nose. Draco woke up with a start, "What is that disgusting smell?"

Madam Pomfrey checked over her new patient once more, "Mr. Malfoy how many fingers am I holding up?"

"Three," he answered.

Madame Pomfrey turned to Ron who still had a surprised look on his face. "When you decide to snap out of wherever you are at Mr. Weasley, since you caused this fiasco, you can help me get Mr. Malfoy on the bed."

Ron shook his head and leaned over to help Draco up. Draco stared disgusted at this concept, "I don't want your filthy hands touching me."

"Mr. Malfoy, that's enough, I need to check you over just to make sure nothing is broken." She ignored his protests, and Ron helped Draco onto the bed. Madame Pomfrey withdrew a weird shaped wand (it was curved slightly) and began to draw it over Draco from head to toe. A weird red light emitted from it, and as it passed over each part, it left a glowing spot on his skin. After her check-up, she clucked at this and said, "You are very lucky that Mr. Weasley didn't hit you with anything stronger, you didn't break anything thank goodness. Now just lay back for now, you Mr. Weasley come with me to my office until Professor McGonagall arrives."

Madame Pomfrey walked back with Ron trailing behind her. Ginny and Hermione stood staring at the Slytherin boy. Draco stared back, "is there something I could do for you?"

Ginny looked embarrassed and turned to walk slowly back to her bed.

"Not you, the mudblood," Draco said. Hermione glared at Malfoy.

"Don't push it Malfoy, Ron may not have hit you hard enough with his spell, but if you recall I can pack quite a punch," Hermione threatened. She gave Ginny's arm a squeeze and then went into the direction of Pomfrey's office.

"Are you ok?" Ginny asked. She walked closer to the bed and sat down at the end of it.

"I've gotten hit with bludgers worse than that," Draco commented. He sat up and stared at Ginny. She looked down at her hands, unable to say anything. Finally after a few minutes Ginny spoke up.

"What happened tonight?" She glimpsed at Malfoy. He closed his eyes and took in a deep breath.

"I'm not sure. I honestly don't know what's going on; I could ask you the same thing." He waited for her answer but didn't expect the response he wanted.

"Listen Malfoy, you've been beating this question around the bush. I asked you the same thing in the library that day months ago," Ginny answered her face coloring slightly, "but you chose to ignore it then. I've been having these weird dreams, and then I find myself sleep walking! Each time this had happened, you've always been nearby when I've woken up." After her speech, Ginny crossed her arms and waited for his response. When he still didn't respond, she continued, "Should I assume then that maybe you attacked me?"

Draco's face grew stricken at that thought but it quickly went away in a flash. "Could you close the curtain?" Ginny gave him an incredulous look but carried out his request. She drew the curtain around his bed. When she sat back down at the edge of it, Draco quickly leaned forward, and kissed Ginny. Ginny pulled away quickly.

"What makes you think--" she started.

Draco pulled her in again and this time put his arms around her. Ginny tried to pull back again but quickly became engrossed in this kiss. It felt better than the first time it happened on the 6th floor. She let him guide his tongue into her mouth and taste her, his hands retreated from around her and began to rub down her back, and he reached down her dressing gown and tried to pull it up. At this action, Ginny pulled away. Draco's eyes were still closed.

"Well are you done now?" He said with an amused look on his face. Ginny stared into his silver-blue eyes confused. Her eyes drew over his form, and a glimmer from around his neck caught her eye. Without asking, she pulled the chain out from underneath his shirt. She gasped when she saw the key which hung from the end of it. Draco looked into her chocolate brown eyes, "Do you like it?" he asked huskily.

Ginny nodded her head. "May I get a closer look?" Draco drew the chain off his neck and placed the key into her hand. When this happened, a jolt of electricity shot between the two, and at this they both pulled away. Ginny examined the key closely, she felt power emanating from it. She looked up at Draco who had a look of disbelief on his face.

"What's wrong," she asked.

"It's nothing. I mean it's nothing important," He said, pushing a distant memory back into its recesses. He held his hand out and Ginny placed the key back into his palm.

Suddenly, a door opened and the two pulled away from each other. McGonagall shuffled into the room with Harry behind her. She walked into Madame Pomfrey's office and closed the door behind her. The three could hear yelling coming from within. Harry looked around the room, finally spying the curtain; he wandered over to the bed. Drawing back the curtain he was surprised to find Ginny and Malfoy together.

"Are you feeling all right Gin," Harry asked. He ignored Malfoy and helped Ginny to stand. "You know you really shouldn't be out of bed." He led her back over to her bed just across from Malfoy's.

Ginny turned back to look at Draco who placed the necklace back on his neck. His eyes stared deep into hers, but this time she felt them deeper in her soul, as if he could see what she was thinking. Clearing her mind she gave her attention to Harry.

"Thanks Harry, did you have a nice time with Luna?"

"Ummm, yes I did." Harry said looking embarrassed, "Gin, if you need anyone to talk to, you can depend on me you know, I mean since I know what's sort of going on." He hinted referring to the confession Daveigh made to him about Ginny's dreams.

Ginny nodded her head and lay down. She gave Harry a wan smile and closed her eyes to drift into a peaceful sleep.

Malfoy watched the red-head and Potter talk quietly. He had felt the jolt of electricity pulse between them when they both touched that key, but he didn't want to think about it. His mother mentioned the history of that key, but she also recalled the story had been legend, and it was more of an heirloom keepsake than anything magical. After that brief episode tonight, Draco doubted it. He pulled the key out and examined it. After closer inspection, he found something never seen before. A small inscription of some sort was on there- two letters, O.L.

Shrugging his shoulders, he closed his eyes and tried to sleep, but chocolate brown eyes, and red hair the color of embers kept invading his thoughts.


	13. Parting Gifts

Chapter 13- Parting Gifts

Later the next day, Ginny and Draco were both released from the hospital wing. Madam Pomfrey found that nothing was entirely wrong with Ginny; Draco still had headaches from the brief knockout he received but with no long standing effects. Daveigh came to meet her friend and accompany her back to the Gryffindor Common Room. On their way out, Draco gave Ginny a look and walked away without a word. Ginny stood there confused at his reaction and the events that occurred over the past 18 hours.

"Well, I'm glad to see that you are back on your feet," Daveigh said, walking to the marble staircase.

Ginny didn't reply, instead she thought back to the moment when she and Draco had that connection….it was when she touched the key. She got the weirdest vibe when she touched it, and had the sneaky suspicion that he had felt it too. 'How odd…why didn't he say anything,' Ginny thought. She stopped on the staircase and tried to recall the dream she had before she passed out the night before. Something in this particular dream was important, and she tried to hang on to the threads of her thoughts before she was interrupted.

Daveigh kept walking up the staircase and stopped to turn around. Ginny stood at the landing a floor below. "Hey, I was talking to you!" Daveigh snapped at her friend.

Ginny snapped out of her reverie and looked up, surprised at her friend's reaction. She walked up the stairs searching her friends face, Daveigh wasn't one to react with hostility, and she liked to keep the peace.

"What's going on," Ginny asked, "I'm not moving another inch till you tell me what's up."

Daveigh sat upon the stairs and twiddled her thumbs. She sighed and finally said, "Why is it that you think everything is perfect until the rug is snatched from under you?"

Ginny stared at her confused. She waited for her to continue.

"All right well last night...after I left you, I was having the time of my life. I mean, not only was I dancing…" (Ginny grinned) "But I was dancing with someone who I thought was a genuine person, someone I thought I could really begin to like, or see myself spending time with. And instead, the asshole was using me the whole time…just to add me to his stupid list of conquests."

Ginny began to realize who she was speaking of. It made sense, Slytherins were sneaky fellows only out for themselves, and never careful of who they hurt in the process. Ginny thought of how Draco had left her and brought her attention back to Daveigh.

"And then that cow Pansy Parkinson with Blaise Zabini who of course always has something to say about everything had to butt in and ruin my night. I really thought he liked me, you know Geoff, and of course he had to show his true self behind my back." Daveigh sighed and stopped ranting for a moment. Ginny could see the wheels slowly turning in her friend's brain.

"You know, I'm supposed to meet him in the library later. Do you think I should go?" Daveigh asked. Ginny shrugged her shoulders.

"I am so sick of just sitting back when something happens. You know what! I am going to give him a piece of my mind. I don't care who hears it." With that, Daveigh got up and rushed up the stairs to the library.

Ginny stood amused on the staircase. If she knew Daveigh, Geoff would have his way—the girl didn't have a mean bone in her body. She contemplated going back to her common room, to her brother and his friends cooing over her. Instead she decided to take a walk, perhaps outside by the Quidditch pitch. She then realized she would have to retrieve her jacket, it was upstairs in the common room. Ginny groaned at having to deal with her brother's protectiveness and proceeded up the stairs in a hurry.

'Perhaps he is still asleep and doesn't know I am out of the hospital,' Ginny wished.

She made it up to the portrait of the fat lady, said the password, and entered. All was quiet in the common room. Ginny was relieved, many of the students got back to their rooms late the night before, and since it was Sunday, they probably wouldn't emerge till dinner.

Ginny ran up to her room, tiptoed around her snoring roommates, grabbed her jacket and made her way back down the stairs and towards the portrait hole. She opened it quickly, but heard a loud thump from the other side.

She peered from behind ready to apologize to whoever was behind the door, but saw to her surprise it was….

* * *

Daveigh ran hurriedly to the library and upon reaching the door, stopped in her haste.

'What am I doing,' she thought. Daveigh was not one for confrontation, and here she was on her way to her favorite place ready to jump down the throat of a Slytherin eagerly waiting on her.

She took a few deep breaths before opening the door and walking into the library. All was quiet inside; only a few 5th year Ravenclaws hell bent on studying sat at a couple of tables but otherwise, she had the place to herself. She walked past Madame Pince's desk and started heading towards the back. If she knew Geoff, he would pick the most out of way table in a dark dusty corner. Daveigh approached the back of the library which seemed to get darker, and turned to the right. Sure enough, Geoff was buried under a pile of books and parchment, scratching his head with the tip of his eagle feather quill. Daveigh sauntered over to him, and put her hands over his eyes.

"Guess who," she whispered. Geoff took her hands off, and leaned his head up to look and see who it was. Daveigh wore a stretched smile, and Geoff immediately knew something wasn't quite right.

'I hope I didn't say or do anything wrong,' he thought then finally said, "Well hello," he said suspiciously, "anything wrong." As he said this, Daveigh pulled out her wand and pointed it at him. Geoff's face went from surprised to downright shocked, as Daveigh rang out, "Petrificus Totalus."

Geoff's body became entirely rigid and he fell to the ground with one swoop. Daveigh stuck her wand behind her ear and left the library much happier.

* * *

Ginny emerged and looked down at the crumpled form.

"Malfoy, I'm so sorry!" She rushed over to help him up. Draco took the hand she offered and stood up. Ginny looked bemused at him while trying to sustain a grin.

"Gods Weasley, you need to watch yourself, a man can get himself killed around you," he teased. Ginny playfully hit him.

They began to walk towards the staircase together; both were quiet until Ginny spoke.

"Were you coming to see me?" She glanced over at Malfoy whose face remained impassive at her question. No response… "All right, we'll just walk I guess," she murmured under her breath.

The two began to walk down the stairs side by side. The hallways were empty, students were either in their common rooms sleeping off the late night, or outside enjoying the remaining fair weather since winter was fast approaching.

"What do you think?" he finally said after a few moments. He stopped on the stairs and gazed at her.

Ginny stopped agitated at his answer. "Why is it that you always answer a question with a question? That is so frustrating!" She stood looking at him with her hands on her hips, red hair trailing in the breeze from an open window behind her. Draco took in the sight and instead of answering leaned in and kissed her. Ginny's reaction was not what he would've expected. She pulled away quickly and immediately slapped him in the face. She quickly put her hand to her mouth, embarrassed. "Draco …. I'm sorry…."

Steel grey eyes met chocolate brown ones. Ginny took her hand and ran it along his cheek- the cheek she struck which was red from the slap. She stared into his silvery eyes which drew her in deeper and she found herself moving closer to him. Her lips were so close-so close she could feel his breath moving the tiny follicles on her face when they suddenly heard a voice coming towards them.

"Yes headmaster, I found Potter with a Ravenclaw girl just this morning. I think that he should be banned from the Quidditch team indefinitely for his disgusting behavior. Dolores Umbridge had the right idea when she banned him from the team last year. Of course it is not my place…but perhaps I could speak to Professor McGonagall….." Snape said to Dumbledore.

Ginny and Malfoy pulled apart rapidly at the sound of the approaching voices. Thinking quickly, Ginny grabbed Malfoy's hand and ran down the rest of the stairs and down the third floor corridor. She quickly pulled him to a statue of a one-eyed crone, whispered "_Dissendium_" and pushed Malfoy into the dark passage following close behind. As the statue closed behind them, Ginny waited to hear if anyone was nearby before they could surface.

"I wonder who Potter was snogging…or was he doing something else….wait, I saw him with Loony--" Draco began, squinting and glancing into the dark passage, but Ginny clamped her hand over his mouth.

"Do you want Dumbledore and Snape to hear us?" she whispered to him and continued to listen to any noise from beyond the statue.

She felt a pair of arms behind her draw her into an embrace. She laid her head back resting it on Malfoy's shoulder and he began to kiss down the side of her neck. Ginny moaned as he trailed kisses up and down, and she turned around to face him. They both stood for a lifetime waiting for one of them to make the next move.

"I-I think they're gone now," Ginny finally said after the silence. Draco didn't let go of her hands. Instead he grasped them tighter and puller her towards him.

"We better stay in here just to be sure," he said huskily, and drew her into a kiss. Ginny immediately let herself melt into him. His lips felt like warm honey that slid down your throat, and she opened her mouth for him. He voraciously devoured her mouth like a man who hasn't eaten in days. Draco trailed kisses down her neck, moving to her collar bone. In the darkness, Ginny couldn't see his eyes, but she knew the color of them----they would be dark like molten steel. She let him take her jacket off when he leaned in to do so, and she rubbed her hands across his broad shoulders. Ginny knew that he wanted her; she could feel his beating heart on her chest as he kept kissing her. This was the thing of her fantasies, being with him there. Now she could let them come to life, hopefully without interruption. The only people that knew of this passageway were her brothers, who were already out of Hogwarts, and Harry, who hadn't used it since his third year.

Draco moaned into her lips each time they moved over hers, he had never felt so hot, not in temperature, but in pure lust; he had been having dreams of her since they had their first encounter on the 6th floor. In his dreams he always felt like it was really happening, he would wake up in the morning in a cold sweat with morning wood, his body feeling like he was up all night making love with her. This time he would act out everything from his dreams.

He stopped all of a sudden. He couldn't believe he was about to do this, but he knew he had to. Who knew Malfoy's had chivalry?

"Ginny…." Draco said, her name rolling off his tongue. Ginny tensed up at him. She pulled away slightly, looking into his face. He couldn't see her face but knew she was disappointed. It was as if she knew what he was about to say.

"I can't do this here, not here. I never imagined taking you on a dirt floor, in the dark," he said. Ginny leaned over and picked up her jacket. She was about to leave out from behind the statue. He stopped her with his next sentence.

"All of those other times, they were in a big bed, and that's where I want you," he said. She turned around sharply… 'Is it possible we were having the same dreams,' she thought.

Ginny walked towards him, "Draco, there's so much I want to say…so much I think we both need to talk about."

Draco nodded his head. "Where were you headed when you hit me with the portrait," he asked.

"Outside for a walk by the Quidditch pitch," she replied. He silently nodded and to her surprise, he took her hand and led her from behind the statue.

The hallway was deserted; Snape and Dumbledore were long gone. Draco walked with Ginny, still holding her hand and descended the marble stairs, and out through the front doors.

The couple walked in silence in the cool late afternoon air. Ginny knew that winter was coming upon them, but now she would enjoy the brisk fall weather as long as she could.

She looked over at Draco as he walked beside her, his face showing no sign of how he felt; she just continued to enjoy the feeling of his hand in hers. The electric feeling was still there each time they touched each other, and neither knew what or how to respond to it. Finally they stopped at the edge of a steep hill which led down to the pitch. Ginny sat first followed by Draco.

"Could you tell me about the key," Ginny blurted out.

Draco looked down at his chest where the small key lay. He took it off and held it in his hands. Ginny gazed at it. It was a small silver key, looking more like a charm than something it could open.

He began…. "It was given to me by my mother when I was very young. She told me a story of a woman that had a key quite like this, it held magical powers. It could fit into any lock; it could also transport the holder to any room that contained a door that was impossible to open….."

At this, Ginny's eyes grew wide but decided not to interrupt Draco.

"….after using the magical key for so long, the woman began to use it more and more. It became an obsession, the key had a hold on her. She found herself getting into places no person could get into. Gringott vaults, stores in Diagon Alley, even the Ministry of Magic after hours….she began to take things from these places, valuable items, and she stored her keepsakes from her adventures in a small room she created. She kept the key hidden somewhere, no one knew where. Anyway, when my mother gave this key to me, she said that one day I would find a treasure worth keeping under lock and key. I never asked her what she meant, but I took it as a joke. I've been wearing it ever since. I'm not sure how much its worth, but I'm sure it's worth a bundle if my family owns it." He gazed over at Ginny who turned sheet white. "Are you ok, are you cold? Do you need to go inside."

Ginny didn't answer. Draco didn't know what to do, she didn't respond to his calls, and he began to get worried. Her reaction reminded him of the first encounter they had on the 6th floor, and he remembered that perhaps soon she would come out of the trance she seemed to be in.

* * *

_Ginny sat up. She was in front of the mirror in her dormitory. Ginny pressed her ear against the door. It seemed that the intruder had given up and left yet again. She got up and wandered slowly over to Daveigh's bed and sat down. Ginny recalled that there was an item of importance she needed, but couldn't keep her finger on it. Ginny looked down at the key around her neck, she vaguely recalled what she used it for, but knew this wasn't it. Ginny stood up and began pacing around the room looking for anything out of place. As she finished her 360 degree turn, she glanced on Daveigh's dressing table. Ginny saw a book titled, "The Secret Key," by Olivia Locke, and picked it up._

_It was a small book, probably one-hundred pages long or so, and Ginny looked around it for some indication that this is what she needed. On the back cover near the bottom, she saw an symbol of the key and Ginny knew she found the next clue in her quest. She sat down upon her friend's bed and opened the book. She ruffled through it but saw no words, not one single word or sentence. It was blank. _

"_Great," she said out loud to herself, "Dead end again." _

_This was extremely frustrating. In every dream she's had so far, she's come to a dead end. And each time, she used the key to get herself out. Ginny reached for the key. She quickly took it off, and held the book in her left hand and the key in her right. Thinking hurriedly, Ginny decided to try something. She turned the book over, the side which had the emblem on it, and placed the key over it. Nothing happened. Sighing, Ginny threw the book and key down on the bed. _

"_What is the point of giving me an empty book, and a key which doesn't seem to open it," Ginny said out loud. She couldn't figure out why the book was sitting in this room, why the passageway led back to her room, behind the mirror she looked in everyday._

_All of a sudden it dawned on her. Sometimes, the answer was looking you right in the face._

* * *

Ginny snapped quickly out of her trance which startled Draco. He was lying next to her on the cool grass.

"We've got to get back to the castle," she said hurriedly. Draco sat up and gave her a weird look.

"Look, why don't you save the drama and tell me what the bloody hell is going on," he said annoyed, "why did you ask about my key."

"I can't answer you right now," Ginny exclaimed standing up and dusting off her jumper. She began to run back to the castle, Draco following close behind.

"Weasel, erm, Ginny wait up," Draco called. He grabbed her hand, and stopped her. Ginny tried to pull him off her so that she could continue on her way, but he wasn't letting go.

"Are you going to tell me what's going on, or am I going to have to put a sticking charm on your feet?" He pulled out his wand with his free hand and pointed it at her.

"You wouldn't dare," she said, eerily gazing at his wand.

"Never say dare to a Slytherin," Draco chastised. He circled around her dangling his wand in his hand. "Now that I have your attention, I want to know why you keep slipping into trances. Why were you on the 6th floor on two separate occasions? Why are you always in my dreams?" He stopped suddenly when he said this.

"I'm in your dreams," she said stunned.

"Don't change the subject Gryff, remember whose holding the wand."

"Listen Draco, if you could just let me go back to my room, I can explain after I look for something."

"No you'll tell me in five seconds or I am going to abide by my promise, Slytherin's never back down when challenged."

Ginny looked at him amused….. 'He really wouldn't do it, would he?'

Annoyed, Draco began to count. "One…."

'I'd like to see him try,' she thought…..

"Two…." He smirked at her.

Ginny crossed her arms and glared at him, 'If he knows what's good for him he'd stop.'

"Three…." He pointed down at the ground near her feet.

"Still counting are you?" she said, "well if your just going to stand there and play your little games, I have a book to locate." She turned around and started to march up the hill to the castle.

Suddenly she felt the hairs on the back of her neck start to rise, she pulled out her wand and turned around quickly just as Draco was about to yell his incantation.

"Protego!" she yelled. She saw the rays of his spell bounce off of her shield, and it hit him not quite where either of them expected.

The spell had caused Draco to fall to the ground, and just as he tried to rise, he found he couldn't. He kept pulling and pulling his bottom off the ground, and suddenly he heard a rip. Draco glared at Ginny who looked as if she were about to laugh loudly.

"Let's hope you're not as good of a wizard as you say you are, or else you might be on your grassy knoll forever. Now if you'll excuse me, I am a girl on a mission." Ginny ran towards the castle doors giggling while Draco remained rooted to the spot.

"If I ever get out of this Weasley…." Draco started.

She was already gone.

"Bloody hell," Draco yelled and attempted to stand. Another tearing noise sounded, and he angrily muttered a string of curses.

* * *

Ginny flew up the marble staircases passing several students on their way to dinner. She didn't bother apologizing when she knocked into a fifth year boy carrying a stack of spell books. Reaching the portrait hole she said the password and rushed into the Common Room.

"Oh Ginny, there you are," Ron exclaimed, "I heard---"

"Not now Ron," Ginny interrupted and continued up the dormitory stairs much to the surprise of Hermione coming down the stairs, whom she shoved against the wall in her urgency.

"Ginny?" Hermione called as Ginny reached her dormitory.

"Now where is it," she said. She began ruffling through her trunk, throwing clothes, books, and other keepsakes on the floor. Nothing. Next she turned over her mattress. Nothing. Huffily, she marched over to the mirror, and looked into it.

"If I were a book….where would I be?" She espied the room behind her through the mirror and looked in the corner……Daveigh's night table!

Ginny excitedly went over to it, and to her relief found a small book. Ginny sat down upon her friend's bed, picked the book up and immediately turned it over. The symbol was there. Ginny's heart began to beat faster and she started flipping through the book. To her disappointment, it was empty again, and she almost threw down the book when she saw scribbled writing near the front of the book. Ginny turned the book to the front, and read a short poem:

"_To the one who finds this book,_

_Your journey's just begun. _

_You'll need to know where to look,_

_Nor will it be easy or fun._

_For I contain what you find,_

_The treasures just beyond._

_The key that's in your mind,_

_Will be within this bond. _

_With true loves help you'll see,_

_Your final destiny."_

Daveigh walked into the room just as Ginny finished reading the last line.

"What hurricane ravaged this room," Daveigh wondered. She then saw Ginny in the corner holding her book.

Ginny turned around and gave her friend an odd look. "Where did you find this book," Ginny inquired.

Daveigh walked over to her bed and took the book out of Ginny's hand.

"The library, why?" She began to turn the pages of the book till she came to the poem.

"Wait, this wasn't here before," Daveigh said. She sat down on the bed and began to read. When she finished, she looked at Ginny in confusion. "How did you do that?"

"I didn't do anything," Ginny said, "just that, well it's a long story. I will sum it up by telling you that I knew the book was on your table. How did you find it?"

"Well yesterday before the ball I looked once again in the restricted section. No such luck. On my way out Madame Pince called me over to show me a book she found. It was blank. The only thing it contained was the title, "The Secret Key", and the author's name on the spine. She told me if I could somehow charm the book to reveal the words, I could read it first. I haven't had the chance to do so since the ball and everything. How did you do that, make the words appear?"

"I don't know. I opened it, and I came upon this poem. Except it's the only thing in this entire book. Daveigh, I saw this book in the last dream I had. I was outside with Draco and--"

"Wait a minute," Daveigh interrupted, "you were with Malfoy…outside? Alone?"

Ginny blushed furiously. Ignoring her friend she continued, "He's still outside, he's in kind of a sticky situation. Anyway, take a look at this." She turned the book over and showed the symbol to Daveigh.

"It's a key, and from what Draco just told me, I think this is the next piece of the puzzle."

"I don't know about you, but I like to eat when I'm listening to a story," Daveigh said, "why don't you tell me what Drakey-poo said and I'll tell you about cursing Geoff over dinner. We can bring the holy grail with us." She picked up the book and made her way to the door.

Ginny stared at her friend in disbelief. "This I have got to hear," Ginny said and the pair walked out of their room.

A/N: All right, I won't take as much time with the next chapter; I have finally gotten over my writer's block though I am still working out the end of the story. Draco will soon find out what his role is in this little situation in the next couple of chapters, and let's just say he won't like it one bit. Oh, and please review. I so love to read what you have to say!


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